7?f<?  y^issionii 

#  Enterprise  ,P 

E  dwin  7i.  %  liss 


THE  MISSIONARY  ENTERPRISE 


The   Missionary  Enterprise 


A    Concise    History    of    Its 
Objects,  Methods  and  Extension 


By  EDWIN  MUNSELL  BLISS,  D.D. 

Editor  of  **  The  Encyclopedia  of  Missions  ** 


New  York       Chicago       Toronto 

Fleming  H.   Revell  Company 

London        and       Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1908,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  80  Wabash  Avenue 
Toronto:  25  Richmond  Street,  W. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:      100    F^rinces    Street 


PREFACE 

A  DECADE  ago  the  ''  Concise  History  of  Missions  "  was 
written  for  the  purpose  of  giving  in  compact  form,  avail- 
able for  students  and  those  who  have  not  leisure  or  oppor- 
tunity for  more  extended  study,  a  general  survey  of  the 
progress  of  foreign  missions.  With  occasion  for  a  new 
edition,  there  came  up  the  question  of  revision.  At  first 
it  seemed  an  easy  matter.  >  Certain  chapters  might  have  to 
be  rewritten,  and  some  additions  made,  but  the  greater  part 
would  remain  essentially  the  same.  Examination,  how- 
ever, showed  that  this  was  not  true.  History  is  not  mere 
chronicle.  Dates  remain  the  same,  but  with  more  com- 
plete knowledge,  and  better  perspective,  the  significance 
of  the  facts  identified  with  the  dates,  often  changes  so 
completely  that  the  older  statement  becomes  practically 
incorrect. 

Especially  has  this  been  true  of  foreign  missions.  The 
labours  of  mission  specialists  at  home,  as  Drs.  War- 
neck,  Geo.  Smith,  Jas.  S.  Dennis,  Lemuel  C.  Barnes  and 
others  ;  the  contributions  of  missionaries  on  the  field,  as 
John  G.  Paton,  Arthur  H.  Smith,  Bishop  Thoburn,  J.  P. 
Jones,  H.  G.  Underwood,  and  their  associates;  the 
marvellous  increase  in  general  missionary  literature, 
especially  the  text-books  issued  by  the  various  move- 
ments ;  all  have  combined  to  increase  vastly  the  amount 
of  information.  Perhaps  most  important  of  all  is  the  fact 
that  this  mass  of  information  is  interpreted  in  the  light  of 
a  conception  of  the  character  and  purpose  of  the  Church 
as  a  whole,  which,  while  not  essentially  different  from,  is 

3 


4  Preface 

far  more  complete  than,  the  one  which  held  sway  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  past  century.  Emphasis  is  placed  to- 
day on  "  Salvation  to  life,"  rather  than  on  ''  Salvation  from 
death"  ;  the  latter  being  regarded  as  one  factor  in  the 
former.  Some  look  askance  at  this,  considering  it  a  re- 
trogression or  defection.  In  truth  it  but  indicates  that  at 
last  the  Church  at  home  is  reaching  up  to  the  platform 
its  missionaries  have  held  from  the  beginning. 

In  view  of  all  these  facts,  it  becomes  evident  that  not 
only  did  nearly  every  page  of  the  earlier  book  need 
alteration,  but  in  some  respects  the  plan  must  be  changed. 
The  development  of  the  missionary  idea  at  home,  and  its 
execution  abroad,  have  become  so  interlaced,  that  they 
cannot  be  dissociated.  The  churches  influence  the  mis- 
sions, but  still  more  do  the  missions  influence  the  churches. 
The  same  general  principles,  and  much  the  same  methods 
operate  in  both.  If  Evangelism  is  correctly  defined  as 
*' everything  that  helps  to  bring  men  to  Christ,"  and 
Education  as  "everything  that  builds  men  up  in  Christ," 
then  both  find  their  full  manifestation  in  the  organized 
church,  whether  native  to  America  or  Japan,  to  England 
or  India,  to  Germany  or  Africa.  Foreign  missions  give 
place  to  the  Missionary  Enterprise,  the  extension  depart- 
ment of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

There  are  therefore  two  parts,  instead  of  three:  the 
first  outlining  the  general  history,  its  movement,  princi- 
ples and  methods ;  the  second  surveying  the  conditions, 
problems  and  progress  in  diff'erent  sections. 

In  so  brief  a  survey,  many  important  facts  are  neces- 
sarily omitted  ;  some,  indeed,  which  may  seem  to  the 
reader  of  greater  value  than  those  that  find  a  place. 
Statistics  and  details  are  given  only  as  they  illustrate 
principles,  and   general  characteristics.     There  are  few 


Preface  5 

direct  references  to  authorities.  To  give  all,  or  even  the 
most  important  would  cumber  the  pages.  The  great 
authorities  on  missionary  history  and  principles  have 
been  drawn  upon  freely  and  the  indebtedness  to  those  al- 
ready mentioned,  as  to  many  others,  including  the  sec- 
retaries of  the  different  societies  and  movements,  may 
here  be  emphasized  as  a  personal  obligation. 

The  chapter  on  the  Pacific  Islands  is  furnished  by  my 
wife,  who  has  also  shared  in  the  preparation  of  the  ap- 
pendices, and  in  many  other  ways  has  contributed  es- 
sentially to  the  completion  of  the  work. 

Edwin  Munsell  Bliss. 


CONTENTS 


I. 

II. 
III. 

IV. 


VI. 


VII. 
ViiJ. 

X. 

XI. 
XII. 


PART  I 

Development  and  Character 

Early  Christian  Missions 

MEDiiEVAL  Missions 

Roman  Catholic  Missions 

Early  Protestant  Missions 

The   Inauguration  of  the  Modern  Mis 
sionary  Movement 

Development  of  the  Modern  Miss 
Movement  .  . 

Student  and  Young   People's  Miss 
Movements 

The  Missionary  Society 

The  Missionary  and  the  Mission 

Evangelism    .  ,  .  . 

Education      .... 

The  Native  Church 


onary 


ONARY 


II 

21 

35 
5» 

66 

79 

93 
io8 

H3 
163 

178-^ 


PART  II 

/ 

Extension 

/xiii. 

Africa  .          .          .          . 

"xtTT 

Western  Asia 

XV. 

India     .          .          .          , 

XVI. 

Southeastern  Asia 

XVII. 

China    .          .          .          , 

XVIII. 

Japan     .          .          .          . 

7 

199 

220 

239 
259 

275 
295 


8 


Contents 


XIX. 

Korea   ..... 

.     314 

XX. 

The  Pacific  Islands 

.     326 

XXI. 

Christian  Lands     .          .          . 

.     349 

XXII. 

The  Immediate  Need 

.     369-^ 

Bibliography 

.         .     383 

Index    .         .         .         .         • 

.     395 

PART    I 


Development  and  Character 


The  Missionary  Enterprise 

I 

EARLY  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS 
A.  D.  30-300     , 

CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  commence  wiS  the 
return  of  the  disciples  from  the  Mount  of 
Ascension.  Up  to  that  time  the  one  thought 
dominant  in  their  minds  had  been  expressed  in  the 
question  of  that  last  interview,  **Lord,  dost  Thou  at  this 
time  restore  the  kingdom  to  Israel  ?  "  The  answer  came 
in  the  command,  "Go  ye  and  make  disciples  of  all  the 
nations,"  and  the  prophecy,  "  Ye  shall  be  My  witnesses 
both  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judea  and  Samaria,  and 
unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth. ' '  As  they  went  down 
the  mount,  threaded  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  entered  the 
upper  chamber,  the  era  of  Christian  Missions  as  an  ag- 
gressive movement,  beg^n. 

This  was  not  indeed  the  birth  of  the  missionary  idea. 
That  is  as  old  as  the  human  race.  "  In  thee  shall  all  the 
families  of  the  earth  be  blessed  " — was  the  promise  to 
Abraham,  and  in  varying  degree  yet  with  a  certain 
constandy,  Judaism  was  missionary  in  its  character. 
The  records  of  early  religious  life  are  not  yet  full  enough 
to  speak  very  positively  of  its  missionary  quality,  but 
five  centuries  .before  Christ,  there  was  what  might  be 
called  an  outburst  of  the  missionary  spirit.  *  At  the  very 

II 


• 


1 


12  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

time  when  Zechariah  was  prophesying  in  Jerusalem  that 
"  many  peoples  and  strong  nations  shall  come  to  seek 
Jehovah  of  Hosts,"  Confucius  and  Laotze  in  China, 
Gautama  in  India,  Zoroaster  in  Persia,  Pythagoras  in 
Greece,  were  in  various  ways  developing  religious  thought 
in  its  broader  relations  to  life.  From  that  time  on,  as  we 
look  back,  we  can  see  how  the  world  was  being  prepared 
for  specific  missionary  enterprise.  Judaism  enlarged  its 
borders.  Jews  spread  over  the  entire  known  world,  and 
wherever  they  went,  attracted  to  their  religion  the  interest 
of  the  people,  and  the  number  of  converts  grew  rapidly. 

That  the  whole  trend  of  Jesus'  life  and  teaching  was 
missionary,  is  too  apparent  to  need  more  than  a  mention. 
There  are  three  essential  factors  in  the  term,  all  personal : 
a  sender,  one  sent,  one  to  whom  he  goes.  Except  as  all 
three  are  clearly  recognized,  the  terms  missions  or  mis- 
sionary, have  no  pertinence.  Jesus  everywhere  speaks 
of  Himself  as  the  Messenger  sent  by  the  Father  to  the 
lost  ones.  More  and  more  clearly  through  His  ministry 
comes  out  into  clear  light  His  conception  of  these  lost 
ones  as  found  in  all  the  world,  and  it  reaches  its  culmina- 
tion in  the  words  uttered  in  the  upper  room,  *'  As  the 
Father  has  sent  Me,  even  so  send  I  you,"  and  the  com- 
mand on  the  Ascension  Mount. 

The  history  of  missions  is  the  history  of  this  '*  send- 
ing." It  is  thus  a  department  of  Church  history,  and 
can  be  fully  understood  only  as  its  relations  to  other  de- 
partments are  kept  in  mind.  The  extension  of  Christi- 
anity has  been  by  no  means  uniform.  There  have  been 
periods  of  special  missionary  activity ;  others  in  which 
doctrinal  evolution,  ecclesiastical  organization,  the  con- 
solidation and  strengthening  of  Church  life,  have  ab- 
sorbed attention.     Each,  however,  has  had  its  influence 


Early  Christian  Missions  13 

on  all  the  others,  and  the  work  as  a  whole  has  a  unity 
which  can  be  realized  only  as  one  surveys  the  entire  field. 

Individual  Effort. — The  Apostolic  Church,  including 
not  merely  the  apostles  and  their  associates,  but  also  their 
immediate  successors,  was  essentially  a  missionary  Church. 
There  was  church  organization  indeed,  but  it  was  not 
extensive,  and  was  for  the  most  part  held  subordinate  to 
the  main  purpose  of  extension.     It  has,  however,   left  ■ 
few   records   that   are   thoroughly   reliable   beyond   the 
chronicles  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and   occasional  ^ 
references  in  the  Epistles.     To  all  appearance,  with  the  ! 
exception   of  the   apostles   Paul,  Peter,  and  John,  and  j 
Barnabas,  Silas,  Timothy,  Mark,  Philip,  and  a  few  others, 
the  apostolic  company  and  the  great  majority  of  the  dis-  | 
ciples  had  little  or  no  active  share  in  the  extension  of  the 
Church.      This,   however,   is   probably   very   incorrect. 
Mark  says,  "  They  went  forth  and  preached  everywhere," 
and  Luke  tells  us  that  "  they  that  were  scattered  abroad 
went  about  preaching  the  Word ' ' ;  and  a  conception  of 
what  "abroad  "  meant  is  gained  from  the  list  of  places 
represented  at  Jerusalem  at  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  and 
from  Peter's  great  sermon.     Persia,  Mesopotamia,   and 
Arabia,  Asia  Minor,  Greece,  and  Italy,  Egypt  and  North 
Africa,  each  received  these  messengers  of  the  new  faith. 
It  is  by  no  means  necessary  to  suppose  that  the  first 
Pentecost   was   the  only  one  where  the  seeds  were  sown 
which  afterwards  sprang  up  in  far  distant  countries. 

In  the  picturesqueness  of  Paul's  journeys,  and  the 
special  interest  that  attaches  to  Peter  and  John,  there  is 
danger  of  forgetting  the  service  rendered  by  these  un- 
named believers,  who,  bearing  no  special  commission, 
organizing  comparatively  few  churches,  yet  carried  far 
and  wide  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel  and  prepared  the 


14  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

soil  which  was  cultivated  to  such  advantage  in  the  suc- 
ceeding centuries.  These  doubtless  received  their  im- 
pulse as  well  as  their  instruction  largely  from  the  com- 
munity at  Jerusalem,  and  thus  the  share  of  Matthew  and 
I  Nathaniel  may  well  have  been  as  important,  if  not  as 
conspicuous,  as  that  of  James  and  John.  Could  we  learn 
more  fully  the  facts  of  that  apostolic  age  we  should  un- 
doubtedly find  that  it  led  all  the  succeeding  ages  in  the 
vigour  of  its  individual  effort.  It  was  not  a  time  of  great 
leaders,  but  of  many  leaders.  There  was  no  widely  ex- 
tended organization,  in  which  individuals  become  little 
more  than  the  cogs  that  regulate  the  motion ;  there  was 
scarcely  even  a  church  as  we  understand  the  term. 
There  was  simply  a  constantly  increasing  number  of  in- 
dividual Christian  believers,  who,  wherever  they  went, 
whether  on  their  regular  business  or  driven  by  persecu- 
tion, preached  Christ,  and  Him  crucified,  told  the  story 
of  the  cross,  bore  witness  to  its  value  for  themselves,  and 
urged  the  acceptance  of  the  Saviour  on  those  with  whom 
they  came  in  contact.  Of  missionaries  in  the  modern 
sense  of  the  term  there  were  few  ;  of  those  who  devoted 
their  full  time  and  strength  to  the  work  of  preaching  there 
were  few ;  but  of  those  who  made  their  trade,  their  pro- 
fession, their  every-day  occupation,  of  whatever  sort,  the 
means  of  extending  their  faith,  there  was  a  multitude. 

Extension. — The  work  was  not,  however,  conducted 
in  a  haphazard  manner.  There  was  then  no  "science" 
of  missions,  but  there  was  a  very  profound  belief  in  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  a  guide  as  well  as  a  strengthener.  Look- 
ing back  over  the  centuries,  it  is  most  interesting  to  note 
the  wise,  even  shrewd,  strategy  of  these  early  leaders  of 
the  Christian  Church.  Everywhere  they  attacked  the 
cities, — Rome,   Athens,   Corinth,    Alexandria,   Antioch, 


] 


Early  Christian  Missions  15 

Ephesus,  and  in  each  place  strong  men  became  the  lead- 
ers, or  perhaps  better  the  very  necessities  of  leadership 
developed  strength.  They  had  against  them  the  mighty 
power  of  Ronie,  at  first  careless  of  these  strange  fanatics 
who  bound  themselves  by  an  oath  ''not  for  any  guilty 
purpose,  but  not  to  commit  thefts,  or  robberies,  or  adul- 
teries, not  to  break  their  word,  not  to  repudiate  deposits 
when  called  upon;"  afterwards  fearful  lest  these  same 
people  should  weaken  the  imperial  grasp  upon  great 
provinces.  They  had  against  them  the  whole  moral 
force  of  what  was  probably  the  most  immoral  age  the  world 
has  known,  when  vice  ruled  with  a  high  hand,  and  the 
very  pretense  of  virtue  was  occasion  for  scoffing.  They 
were  in  a  very  whirlpool  of  intellectual  ferment.  Old 
ideas  were  discounted  ;  new  ideas  welcomed,  provided 
they  made  no  exactions  of  belief.  The  air  was  full  of 
philosophical  discussion.  It  appears  in  Paul's  speeches ; 
in  the  Epistles ;  in  the  Gospel  of  John,  and  not  one  of 
the  Church  fathers  but  has  left  records  of  the  conflict. 

During  the  second  section  of  this  period,  this  general 
characteristic  of  the  situation  increased.  Persecution 
grew  more  bitter,  but  as  always,  it  failed  in  its  purpose. 
Justin  Martyr  and  Clement  at  Rome,  Origen  and  Clem- 
ent at  Alexandria,  TertuP.ian  at  Carthage,  Polycarp  at 
Smyrna,  Irenaeus  at.  Lyons,  all  stood  as  rocks  against 
which  imperial  and  pagan  fury  beat  without  avail.  But 
even  more  than  that,  it  was  under  their  guidance,  and 
with  their  assistance,  that  the  scattered  and  comparatively 
weak  communities  of  the  first  century  became  consoli- 
dated into  a  Church,  with  practical  unity,  though  as  yet 
with  no  definite,  uniform,  inclusive  organization.  Still 
as  before,  the  advance  work,  the  pioneering,  was  done 
by  the  lesser  known,  the  more  humble  believers,  who 


i6  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

were  not  so  much  missionaries,  as  every-day  Christian 
tradesmen,  travellers,  workers,  whose  lives  even  more 
than  their  teachings,  were  the  instruments  chosen  of  God 
for  the  evangelization  of  the  remote  sections  of  the  world. 
They  were  not  educated  as  we  count  education ;  they 
were  not  wealthy ;  they  were  simple-hearted  men  and 
women,  for  both  shared  in  the  work,  actuated  by  a  com- 
mon motive,  working  together  to  secure  a  definite 
result. 
I  Motives.— When  the  disciples  went  forth  to  obey 
I  the  command  of  Christ,  their  motive  appears  to  have 
1  been  chiefly  one  of  personal  loyalty  to  the  Saviour. 
There  was  His  command — go,  disciple  the  nations — they 
obeyed.  They  were  to  be  witnesses,  for  what?  What 
was  the  immediate  object  to  be  gained  by  their  witness- 
ing? The  enthroning  of  Christ  in  the  hearts  of  men  as 
the  Lord  and  Saviour.  He  had  been  despised  and  re- 
jected, crucified  with  scorn  and  derision.  They  were 
anxious  that  He  should  be  enthroned,  and  they  went 
everywhere  preaching  the  Word,  the  Word  that  was  God, 
but  God  manifest  in  the  flesh.  There  was  indeed  a  rec- 
ognition of  the  terrible  consequences  of  refusal  to  accept 
Him,  and  of  the  advantage  and  blessing  to  those  who 
acknowledged  Him  as  their  personal  Saviour,  but  at 
first  it  was  the  honour  of  that  Saviour,  rather  than  the 
salvation  of  the  men,  that  was  uppermost  in  their  thought. 
As  however  they  continued,  and  came  to  a  keener 
perception  of  the  evil  and  results  of  sin,  they  came  also 
to  enter  more  fully  into  the  spirit  of  their  Master  and 
their  preaching  became  more  aggressive ;  not  merely 
must  Christ  be  enthroned,  but  evil  must  be  dethroned, 
and  in  the  conflict  no  blows  were  too  hard. 

With  the  consolidation  of  the  Church,  it  came  to  be 


Early  Christian  Missions  17 

realized  more  keenly  that  the  honour  of  Christ  was  in- 
volved to  a  very  great  degree  in  the  character  of  the 
men  who  professed  His  name.  They  were  to  be  "epis- 
tles known  and  read  of  all  men,"  and  it  was  inevitable 
that  the  Saviour  should  be  judged  in  the  various  com- 
munities, Jewish  or  pagan,  by  the  standard  set  by  the 
Christians  themselves.  Thus  it  became  essential  that 
there  should  be  some  instruction,  and  on  occasion  warn- 
ing and  even  discipline.  It  was  no  honour  to  the  Master 
to  have  His  name  borne  by  communities  that  practiced 
some  of  the  worst  vices  of  heathenism. 

Following  this  development  of  the  character  of  those 
within  the  Church,  there  developed  also  a  higher  con- 
ception of  the  object  of  Christ's  mission  to  earth  in  re- 
gard to  the  individual  soul.  The  possibilities  of  indi- 
vidual growth  into  likeness  to  Christ  came  to  hold  a  larger 
place  in  the  thought.  There  resulted  thus,  in  a  degree, 
a  diminution  in  or,  perhaps  better,  a  blurring  of  the  in- 
tensity of  the  desire  for  the  glory  of  Christ,  and  an  in- 
crease of  the  interest  in  man.  This  became  more  evident 
as  the  circle  of  those  who  knew  the  Saviour  in  the  flesh 
diminished  in  numbers.  The  risen  Saviour,  out  of  sight, 
was  to  a  degree  replaced  by  the  needy  ones  in  sight. 
With  the  extension  of  missionary  labour  over  the  Roman 
empire  there  came  also  an  increasing  realization  of  the 
multitudes  who  were  without  God  and  without  hope. 
The  element  of  human  sympathy,  purified  and  ennobled 
by  the  sympathy  of  Christ,  became  more  and  more  pow- 
erful, and  the  salvation  of  men  assumed  a  foremost  place 
in  the  motive  and  object  of  missionary  labour. 

Bible  Versions. — The  intellectual  activity  of  these 
centuries,  bearing  directly  on  missionary  extension,  was  re- 
markable.    Paul's  epistles  urged  the  study  of  the  Scrip- 


i8  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

tures,  and  among  the  records  of  translation  are  the 
Peshito  and  Curetonian  Syriac  for  Syria  and  Mesopotamia, 
the  Memphitic,  Thebaic  and  Bashmuric  for  the  Upper 
Nile  valley,  the  North  African,  and  Italian-Latin  versions 
for  Carthage  and  Rome,  while  the  Greek  went  every- 
where. There  was  also  a  famous  Christian  school  at 
Alexandria  in  the  second  century,  at  whose  head  was 
Pantcenus  ;  one  great  purpose  of  this  school  was  the  train- 
ing of  missionaries,  and  Pantaenus'  pupil  and  successor, 
Clement,  has  left  works  as  distinctly  missionary  in  their 
character  as  any  of  more  recent  days. 

The  presence  in  the  Church  of  men  of  literary  attain- 
ments, not  less  than  the  increasing  attention  paid  to  its 
development,  has  made  possible  a  record  of  the  advance  in 
missionary  extension,  beyond  that  recorded  in  the  New 
Testament.  It  was  of  the  converts  in  Asia  Minor,  to 
whom  Peter's  epistle  was  sent,  that  Pliny  wrote  towards 
the  close  of  the  first  century.  Eastward  the  missionaries 
traversed  Mesopotamia,  and  crossed  the  mountains  into 
Persia,  Media,  and  Parthia,  and  even  into  Bactria.  At 
Edessa,  the  modern  Urfa  (long,  though  mistakenly, 
known  as  Ur  of  the  Chaldees), — made  memorable  in 
recent  times  by  a  massacre  exceeding  even  those  of  the 
Diocletian  era,  and  by  the  heroism  of  a  missionary  woman 
from  beyond  the  Atlantic, — so  strong  was  the  Christian 
community  in  the  middle  of  the  second  century  that  it  in- 
cluded the  King  Abgar,  claimed  by  the  Armenians  as  their 
first  leader  in  the  faith.  Even  as  far  as  India  the  move- 
ment spread.  Though  the  Apostle  Thomas  never  went  to 
Malabar,  another  Thomas  probably  did,  and  it  was  Pantae- 
nus of  Alexandria  who  visited  the  country  about  190  a.  d. 
Just  after  the  close  of  this  period,  about  three  hundred 
and   fifty  flourishing  churches  were  in  existence  there. 


Early  Christian  Missions  19 

It  was  natural  that  Christianity  should  gain  a  strong  foot- 
hold in  Egypt  and  extend  up  the  Nile  even  to  Nubia  and 
Abyssinia,  and  as  early  as  235  twenty  bishops  from  the 
Nile  valley  were  present  at  a  council  in  Alexandria. 
North  Africa  was  very  early  a  promising  field.  The 
maritime  achievements  of  the  Phenicians  kept  it  in  close 
touch  with  Italy  and  the  East.  Commerce  was  then 
almost  more  even  than  to-day  the  handmaid  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  Carthage  had  its  church,  with  TertuUian  at  its 
head,  at  the  close  of  the  second  century.  From  Rome 
north  through  Italy  into  Gaul,  the  Christians  spread, 
gathering  large  communities  and  founding  churches  in 
Lyons,  Vienne,  and  Paris.  Some  crossed  the  Rhine  and 
found  fellow  believers  among  the  Germans,  and  some 
went  even  to  Britain,  all  by  the  middle  or  end  of  the  sec- 
ond century.  In  Spain  so  great  was  the  advance  that  in 
306  there  were  nineteen  bishops  assembled  at  Elvira. 

The  Conquering  Church. — By  the  close  of  the  second 
century  there  were  as  many  Christians  as  pagans  in  North 
Africa,  and  there  was  perhaps  something  of  pride,  but  of 
pride  well  founded  in  fact,  in  TertuUian' s  address  to  the 
heathen,  "We  are  but  of  yesterday,  and  yet  we  already 
fill  your  cities,  islands,  camps,  your  palace,  senate,  and 
forum  ;  we  have  left  you  only  your  temples." 

So  Justin  Martyr,  half  a  century  earlier,  had  said : 

*'  There  is  no  people,  Greek  or  barbarian  or  of  any  other 
race,  by  whatsoever  appellation  or  manners  they  may  be 
distinguished,  however  ignorant  of  arts  or  agriculture, 
whether  they  dwell  in  tents  or  wander  about  in  covered 
wagons,  among  whom  prayers  and  thanksgiving  are  not 
offered,  in  the  name  01  the  crucified  Jesus,  to  the  Father 
and  Creator  of  all  things." 

When  Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  so  named  because  of 


20  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

the  many  miracles  he  was  reputed  to  have  performed,  was 
sent  as  Bishop  to  Neocaesarea  in  Pontus,  his  native  city, 
he  was  said  to  have  found  twenty-seven  (or  seventeen) 
Christians,  and  when  his  work  closed  there  were  the 
same  number  of  pagans  left. 

As  to  the  actual  numbers  of  the  Christians  at  the  close 
of  the  second  century,  any  accurate  statement  is,  of 
course,  impossible.  All  sorts  of  estimates  are  made  as  to 
the  proportion  held  by  them  out  of  the  whole  poj)ulation 
of  the  empire.  Some,  including  Dr.  Schaff,  claim  from 
one-tenth  to  one-twelfth  of  the  whole,  while  others  limit 
it  to  one-twentieth. 
(  Certain  it  is,  however,  that  by  the  opening  of  the  fourth 
century  Christian  Missions  had  so  covered  the  then  known 
world  that  when  Constantine  came  to  the  throne  he  found 
Christianity  if  not  numerically,  at  least  intellectually  and 
morally,  so  potent  a  factor  that  it  must  be  considered  and 
deferred  to.     It  could  not  be  ignored. 


II 

MEDIAEVAL  MISSIONS 

NO  better  indication  of  the  place  that  Christi- 
anity held  in  the  Roman  Empire  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  fourth  century  could  be 
given  than  the  two  edicts  of  311  and  312.  The  first,  by 
Galerius,  Constantine  and  Licinius,  proclaimed  general 
toleration  in  religion  ;  the  second,  by  Constantine  and 
Licinius,  granted  unrestricted  liberty.  Soon  after  came 
the  acceptance  of  the  Christian  faith  by  Constantine,  and 
the  entire  Roman  world  was  officially  Christian.  This 
involved  not  merely  safety  of  profession  but  liberty  to 
preach,  and  it  should  have  given  added  impetus  to  the 
extension  of  the  Church,  but  in  reality  it  marked  the 
close  of  any  general  missionary  activity.  For  this  there 
were  two  reasons.  Christianity  already  extended  to  the 
borders  of  the  Empire,  and  with  the  sections  beyond 
there  was  little  communication,  such  as  had  been  a  great 
factor  in  the  earlier  history  of  the  Church.  Another, 
and  more  important  factor  was  the  influx  into  the  Church 
of  an  enormous  mass  of  heathenism,  compelling  the 
church  leaders  to  put  all  their  energies  into  the  preser- 
vation of  the  integrity,  not  merely  of  their  faith,  but  even 
of  their  worship,  and  of  the  ordinary  ethics  of  Christian 
life. 

The  Eastern  Church. — Christian  profession  had 
become  popular  and  was  regarded  as  a  means  to  political 
preferment  and  official  approval.     The  result  was  that 

21 


22  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

converts  crowded  into  the  churches,  eager  to  outdo  each 
other  and  their  teachers  in  their  devotion  to  the  new 
faith.  As  their  heathenism  had  been  for  the  most  part, 
based  upon  no  convictions,  but  was  simply  an  inherited 
superstition,  so  the  new  rehgion  was  not  taken  seriously. 
Old  ideas,  practices,  rules  of  conduct,  were  retained  un- 
der Christian  names,  and  there  was  a  reign  of  almost  un- 
disguised hypocrisy.  The  leaders  and  many  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  strove  valiantly  to  resist  the  tide,  but 
the  weaker  and  more  ignorant  were  too  often  swept  away 
by  it.  One  thing  that  contributed  greatly  to  the  general 
demoralization,  was  the  diversion  of  attention  from  prac- 
tical ethics  by  the  theological  discussions.  Not  merely  in 
Athens,  Antioch  and  Alexandria,  but  in  Constantinople ; 
and  not  only  in  churches  and  in  schools,  but  in  market- 
places and  baths,  the  rival  merits  of  prepositions  and 
the  iota  subscript  were  the  theme  of  popular  debate. 
Thus  arose  the  Arian  controversy  over  the  divinity  of 
Christ ;  the  Monophysite  and  Monothelite  controversies 
over  the  divine  and  human  natures  in  the  person  of 
Christ ;  the  Pelagian  controversy  over  the  relation  of 
man's  free  agency  to  God's  sovereignty  in  salvation. 
Constantine,  with  true  Roman  conception  of  his  rights 
as  Emperor,  thought  to  settle  the  first  by  convening  the 
Council  of  Nice  (325).  The  others  hung  over  the  Church 
like  threatening  clouds  until  other  councils,  Ephesus 
(431)  and  Chalcedon  (451)  shut  out  the  Armenians 
and  Copts,  and  sent  Nestorius  to  spread  his  "heresy"  in 
Persia,  and  his  followers  to  tread  unbeaten  paths  through 
Asia  to  China. 

Under  such  conditions  it  was  scarcely  surprising  that 
active  mission  work,  at  least  in  the  East,  should  cease. 
The  Church  was  too  busy  assimilating  the  barbarians  at 


Mediaeval  Missions  23 

home  to  pay  much  attention  to  the  barbarians  beyond. 
It  seemed  more  important  to  reconvert  Arian  Goths  than 
pagan  vandals.  The  result  was  just  what  always  hap- 
pens when  a  church  limits  its  vision  to  the  near-by  and  ig- 
nores the  command  to  go  into  all  the  world ;  forgets  that 
he  who  would  save  his  life  shall  lose  it,  while  he  who 
loses  his  life  for  Christ's  sake  shall  find  it.  It  fell  into  a 
sleep  so  deep  that  not  even  the  shock  of  Islam  aroused  it, 
and  only  now,  after  a  decade  and  a  half  of  centuries  is  it 
beginning  to  awake  and  wonder  what  has  been  going  on 
in  "all  the  world." 

The  Western  Church. — In  the  West  it  was  dif- 
ferent. There  was  less  interest  in  discussion,  more  in- 
terest in  action.  Moreover  the  necessity  of  action  was 
forced  upon  it,  as  it  was  not  upon  the  East,  by  actual 
contact  with  the  great  hordes  that  swept  down  from  the 
North  upon  Italy  and  poured  into  Gaul  and  Spain.  In 
meeting  the  emergency,  the  Western  Church,  like  her  sis- 
ter of  the  East,  made  the  mistake  of  centering  her  vision 
on  herself.  The  barbarian  worshipped  power.  Organ- 
ization is  the  symbol  of  power.  No  organization  in  the 
world  has  equalled  in  efficiency  the  papacy,  built  on  the 
foundations  laid  in  those  early  centuries.  The  barbarian 
was  spectacular.  Fine  churches,  elaborate  ritual,  gor- 
geous paraphernalia  appealed  to  him,  and  the  wealth  of 
increased  trade  and  imperial  taxation  was  used  lavishly  to 
attract  the  newcomers.  The  barbarian  was  under  the 
spell  of  the  weird  mythology  of  the  North,  and  a  whole 
new  order  of  saints  was  canonized,  that  he  might  feel 
at  home  in  the  new  faith.  A  great  deal  was  done  to  at- 
tract him  when  close  at  hand,  but,  so  far  at  least  as  the 
Church  was  concerned,  little  or  nothing  to  reach  him  at  a 
distance.     The  result  was,  that  while  there  was  not  the 


24  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

stagnation  of  the  East,  there  was  an  ahnost  equal  loss  of 
genuine  spiritual  life. 

Against  all  this  there  were  many  protests.  Vigorous 
sermons  were  preached,  but,  as  in  later  times  with  little 
avail.  Devout  men,  sick  at  heart,  withdrew  from  the 
blare  and  pomp  of  public  Christianity,  under  the  mis- 
taken ideas  of  the  time,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
monasticism  that  found  its  most  noted  illustration  in  the 
asceticism  of  the  monks  of  the  Thebaid.  Had  they 
sought  to  convert  men  instead  of  to  sanctify  themselves, 
the  story  of  the  next  centuries  would  have  been  different. 
A  few  did  realize  that  the  true  antidote  for  worldHness 
within  the  church  is  work  for  souls  outside  the  church, 
and  for  seven  centuries,  men,  either  alone  or  in  small 
companies  with  little  or  no  support  or  encouragement 
from  ecclesiastics,  went  forth  to  meet  the  giant  forces 
from  the  North,  and  won  them  to  the  Christian  faith. 
The  missionary  effort  of  these  centuries  was  thus  almost 
entirely  a  personal  effort,  and  its  record  is  really  a  series 
of  biographies.  To  give  them  in  full,  or  even  in  indi- 
vidual outline  is  beyond  these  limits  and  no  more  can  be 
done  than  to  give  the  names  of  some  of  the  more  prom- 
inent, and  indicate  in  brief  their  work,  emphasizing  in 
particular  the  methods  they  adopted  to  achieve  results. 

Ulfilas  (311-381). — While  Christianity  was  still  a 
living  power,  a  band  of  Goths  from  beyond  the  Danube 
spread  over  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  crossed  the  Helles- 
pont, and  returned  with  their  spoil  including  a  colony 
of  Christian  captives.  Of  them  a  child  was  born  the 
very  year  of  the  first  decree  of  religious  liberty  (311). 
He  was  named  Ulfilas  (little  wolf)  and  knew  little  of  his 
own  faith  till  twenty  years  later,  when  he  went  with 
Alaric  on  an  embassy  to  Constantinople,  where  he  re- 


Mediaeval  Missions  25 

mained  for  ten  years,  and  became  a  Christian  scholar. 
Returning  to  his  home  he  preached  and  taught  until  the 
whole  nation  accepted  the  new  faith.  How  intelligent 
their  belief  was  is  not  apparent  yet  it  was  sincere  and  it 
brought  forth  fruit.  After  years  of  conflict,  with  their 
own  kin  as  well  as  with'  the  Empire,  and  when  their 
beloved  apostle,  for  reasons  they  could  scarcely  under- 
stand, had  been  branded  as  an  Arian  heretic,  they  broke 
over  the  boundary,  ravaged  Italy,  their  very  name  carry- 
ing terror  with  it,  yet  everywhere,  the  name  of  Christian, 
of  whatever  creed,  was  a  passport  to  safety,  and  while 
heathen  temples  were  pillaged,  churches  were  spared. 
Two  characteristics  of  Ulfilas'  method  are  notable.  He 
emphasized  life  rather  than  creed ;  he  taught  the  people 
to  read  the  Bible.  To  this  end,  this  Greco-Goth,  the 
first. of  a  long  line  of  missionary  workers,  reduced  the 
rough,  uncouth  language  to  writing,  inventing  a  written 
alphabet  by  supplementing  the  Greek  alphabet  in  neces- 
sary instances  from  the  Gothic  runes,  translated  the 
Scriptures  and  put  them  into  the  hands  of  the  people. 
It  is  interesting  that  he  omitted  the  four  books  of  Kings, 
lest  his  people  should  have  their  warlike  spirit  stirred 
still  more.  Fragments  of  this  version  still  exist,  among 
them  a  New  Testament  in  Stockholm,  the  oldest  written 
monument  of  the  Teutonic  languages. 

St.  Patrick  (396-469). — From  the  Danube  we  turn  to 
the  Atlantic  coast,  and  the  fascinating  story  of  one  who 
while  in  a  sense  a  home  rather  than  a  foreign  missionary, 
laid  the  foundation  and  gave  the  impulse  for  most  of  the 
missionary  enterprise  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Born  of 
Christian  parents  in  Scotland,  Patrick  was  taken  cap- 
tive when  a  boy  by  Irish  freebooters  and  forced  to  live 
the  life  of  a  slave.     He  escaped,  but  hearing  a  voice 


26  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

calling  him  to  his  Irish  Macedonia,  nothing  could  dis- 
suade him  from  obeying  it,  though  with  rare  wisdom  he 
spent  some  years  in  study  in  the  monastic  schools  of 
France.  About  425,  he  set  sail  for  Ireland  with  a  band 
of  fellow  workers.  While  it  is  impossible  yet  to  separate 
the  thread  of  fact  in  the  web  of  romance,  sufficient  is 
known  to  make  evident  the  rare  courage,  shrewdness, 
faith  and  simple  hearted  love  for  the  people,  which  over- 
came the  opposition,  conquered  the  savagery,  and  won 
the  affection  of  robber  chiefs  and  peasants  alike.  Hold- 
ing Easter  services  in  the  very  stronghold  of  the  Druids 
despite  their  bitter  opposition,  his  bravery  forced  their 
respect,  while  his  Christian  spirit  compelled  their  admira- 
tion. Far-sighted  in  his  plans,  he  everywhere  established 
schools,  trained  a  native  ministry,  and  laid  the  founda- 
tions for  as  deep  and  genuine  a  race  conversion  as  mis- 
sionary records  can  show. 

Columba  (521-597). — Ireland  converted  became  the 
source  of  missionary  effort  for  the  very  land  that  gave 
her  her  apostle.  Columba,  the  apostle  of  Caledonia,  did 
for  the  Picts  of  Scotland,  what  Patrick  had  done  for  the 
Celts  of  Ireland,  but,  perhaps  because  his  converts  had 
not  the  Celtic  imagination,  he  is  best  known,  not  so 
much  for  his  evangelism  as  for  the  great  monastery  at 
lona.  This  rocky  island  on  the  west  coast  of  Scotlaiflfr, 
not  far  from  Fingal's  Cave,  became  under  his  influence, 
the  home  of  one  of  the  most  celebrated  schools  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  famous  for  the  piety  and  learning  of  its 
inmates  ;  more  famous  for  its  missionary  zeal,  and  as 
the  center  from  which  went  forth  into  Central  Europe, 
the  men  who  were  to  accomplish  most  for  the  future  of 
those  lands. 

At  the  same  time  that  Patrick  was  preaching  to  the 


Mediaeval  Missions  27 

Irish,  Leo  the  great  bishop  of  Rome  was  buying  off 
Attila  and  his  Huns  with  presents,  and  seeking  to  miti- 
gate, where  he  could  not  avert,  the  outrages  of  Genseric 
at  the  head  of  the  Vandals.  The  record  of  the  next 
two  centuries  is  one  of  darkness  with  some  rays  of  the 
light  that  was  to  conquer.  One  of  these  shows  Augus- 
tine (died  604)  tracing  out  the  fair-haired  Angles,  who 
had  so  impressed  Gregory  the  Great,  in  the  slave  markets 
of  Rome,  and  bringing  the  Saxons  to  accept  the  religion 
of  the  conquered  Celts.  Another  shows  Severinus  (died 
482)  in  his  hermitage  before  the  gates  of  Vienna,  the 
friend  of  captives,  the  bold  organizer  of  defense  against 
the  inroads  of  raiders,  the  promoter  of  industry  (a  pio- 
neer in  industrial  missions),  everywhere  preaching  a 
gospel  of  peace. 

Columbanus  (543-615). — While  Augustine  was  com- 
mencing his  work,  and  after  Severinus  had  closed  his,  an 
Irish  monk,  with  the  spirit  of  Patrick,  started  for  the 
Vosges  Mountains.  His  sincere  and  simple  austerity  of 
life  provoked  the  Burgundian  monks  and  they  drove 
him  forth  to  found  another  monastery  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  Constance.  Columbanus  plunged  into  the  conflict 
with  paganism  with  fiery  zeal ;  burned  temples,  broke 
idols  in  pieces  and  flung  them  into  the  lake,  until  again 
driven  out  he  went  to  the  Apennines,  founded  another 
monastery  and  died.  His  work,  however,  was  taken  up 
by  others,  of  whom  Gallus  (died  645)  was  the  leader, 
and  who  from  the  monastery  of  St.  Gall  brought  Switzer- 
land to  Christ. 

Boniface  ( 755)- — A-  similar  work  was  done  on 

the  north  coast  by  a  band  of  English  missionaries,  among 
them  Willibrord,  whose  success  among  the  Friesians 
made  him  bishop  of  Utrecht  (died   739).     The   great 


28  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

man  of  this  period  and  field  was  Winfrid,  better  known 
as  Boniface.  Of  noble  birth  and  fine  scholarship,  he  had 
every  promise  of  high  ecclesiastical  honours,  but  chose  to 
take  up  the  work  of  Willibrord  among  the  heathen  tribes 
of  Friesland  (716).  It  was  a  chaotic  time,  race  striving 
against  race ;  perhaps  the  darkest  period  of  the  Dark 
Ages.  Into  the  turmoil  Boniface  entered  with  courage, 
and  following  the  opportunities  that  met  him,  found  himself 
in  Saxon  Hesse,  where  he  founded  a  monastery  from  which 
he  and  his  assistants  pushed  forth  among  the  surrounding 
tribes.  Some  of  these  had  accepted  a  form  of  Christianity, 
as  had  Clovis,  two  centuries  before,  when  he  brought  his 
3,000  soldiers  to  be  baptized  by  Remigius,  archbishop 
of  Rheims ;  but  there  was  little  of  its  spirit,  and  the  la- 
bours of  the  new  missionary  were  directed  almost  as  much 
to  the  evangelizing  of  Christians  as  to  the  Christianizing 
of  heathens.  He  was  not  particular  as  to  his  methods, 
provided  they  breathed  the  spirit  of  Christ.  Finding  an 
ancient  oak,  sacred  to  Thor,  the  god  of  thunder,  he  sal- 
lied forth  ax  in  hand  to  cut  it  down.  The  people 
assembled  in  thousands,  some  in  rage,  some  in  dismay, 
for  they  had  learned  to  love  this  strange  man.  With  firm 
English  muscle  the  ax  was  laid  at  the  root  of  the  tree, 
while  all  held  their  breath  expecting  the  foe  of  the  god  to 
be  stricken  by  a  bolt  from  heaven.  When  the  boughs 
came  crashing  down  the  victory  was  won,  and  the  people 
came  in  thousands  to  be  baptized.  Boniface  faced  the 
new  problem  as  he  had  faced  others.  Schools  sprang  up 
on  every  hand.  There  were  monasteries  for  the  clergy, 
convents  for  the  women,  two  of  them  presided  over  by 
English  nuns,  Lioba  and  Thecla.  In  742  he  assembled 
the  first  German  Council,  but  never  lost  his  passion  foi 
direct  missionary  effort,  and   in    755   found   a  martyr's 


Mediaeval  Missions  29 

death  among  the  pagan  Friesians  who  had  been  his  first 
love. 

Another  of  those  vigorous  assaults  on  heathendom  which 
characterized  that  period,  resulted  in  the  conversion  of  the 
Danes,  dreaded  more  perhaps  on  the  Continent  than  any 
other  of  the  Northmen.  VVillibrord  was  the  first  to  reach 
them,  but  it  was  Ansgar,  a  monk  of  Corvey,  who  by 
dauntless  courage,  Christian  tact,  and  earnest  preaching, 
overcame  opposition  and  won  even  King  Horic,  the  bit- 
terest foe  to  Christianity.  It  was  seven  centuries  before 
the  Christian  conquest  of  Europe  was  completed,  Lithuania 
being  the  last  to  yield.  This  conquest  was  indeed  too  often 
political  rather  than  spiritual,  but  thanks  chiefly  to  the 
schools  established  by  Boniface  and  his  predecessors, 
there  was  constantly  a  nucleus  of  educated  Christian  men 
and  women  who  laid  the  foundations  of  modern  Christian 
thought  and  life. 

Cyril  and  Methodius. — Now  the  Eastern  Church 
appears  again,  sending  Cyril  and  Methodius  from  Con- 
stantinople to  do  for  the  Slavs  what  Ulfilas  had  done  for 
the  Goths.  Southeastern  Europe,  overrun  repeatedly, 
had  produced  a  strange  conglomerate  of  races.  There 
were  remnants  of  the  Goths;  various  Slavic  tribes  from 
the  North ;  the  Bulgars  cousins  of  the  Huns ;  then  the 
Tartar  Magyars,  until  it  seemed  as  if  all  the  wild  ele- 
ments of  Asia  had  combined  to  bar  the  progress  of  Chris- 
tianity. First  these  two  apostles  went  to  the  Crimea, 
then  (861)  to  Bulgaria,  in  answer  to  a  call  from  a  Bul- 
garian prince,  whose  sister  had  been  converted  while  a 
captive  on  the  Bosporus.  Here  Methodius  painted  the 
scene  of  the  last  judgment  on  the  palace  walls  of  Bogoris, 
and  so  terrified  the  superstitious  monarch  that  the  oppo- 
sition which  had  appeared  ceased,  and  Bulgaria  became 


30  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Christian.  Then  they  went  to  Moravia  and  Bohemia, 
carrying  with  them  the  written  character  that  has  done 
more  than  anything  else  to  bind  the  Slavic  peoples  to- 
gether, and  proved  an  impassable  barrier  to  Latin  Chris- 
tianity. 

Another  century  and  (988)  the  Russian  Vladimir,  in- 
fluenced again  by  a  princess,  sent  ambassadors  south  and 
west  to  report  on  the  religions,  Christian,  Jewish  and 
Moslem,  as  they  found  them.  They  returned,  bringing 
favourable  comment  only  on  the  gorgeous  ritual  of 
St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople.  Teachers  were  called  for 
and  Vladimir,  with  his  twelve  sons,  was  baptized  at  Kief, 
cementing  his  profession  of  the  new  faith  by  marriage 
with  the  sister  of  the  Greek  Emperor.  Thus  was  laid  the 
foundation  for  Russia's  claim  to  the  inheritance  of  the 
Byzantine  Empire.  Almost  at  the  same  time  Iceland 
was  brought  to  Christianity  through  the  efforts  of  a  trav- 
eller converted  in  Saxony,  who  took  home  with  him  a 
priest,  and  found  a  most  efficient  if  rather  militant  ally 
in  King  Olaf  of  Norway.  Greenland  followed,  and  600 
years  before  the  Pilgrims  landed  at  Plymouth,  Leif,  an 
Icelandic  missionary,  discovered  the  north  coast. 

The  Nestorians. — Driven  from  the  Levant  and 
branded  as  a  heretic,  Nestorius  went  to  Persia  and  in  the 
mountain  valleys  of  what  is  now  Kurdistan,  planted  a 
church,  which,  crystallizing  after  the  fashion  of  the 
East,  yet  through  its  missionary  effort,  kept  the  gospel 
faith  purer  and  more  simple  than  any  other.  It  was  its 
missionary  zeal  that  brought  the  community  into  conflict 
with  Zoroastrianism,  which  sought  to  kill  the  intruding 
religion  by  persecution.  Through  it  all  the  Church 
thrived  and  sent  its  missionaries  to  Tartars  and  Chinese. 
To  the  Western  world  came  strange  stories  of  a  Gur  Khan 


Mediaeval  Missions  31 

of  the  Karaite  Tartars,  who  made  Christianity  the  reh'gion 
of  his  people,  and  was  styled  Prester  John.  Then  came 
the  great  Mongol  invasion  and  Genghis  Khan  made  his 
ng.me  known  and  feared  even  to  the  walls  of  Constantino- 
ple. His  grandson,  Kublai  Khan  (1259),  was  anxious 
to  know  of  the  strange  Western  faith,  but  though  some 
friars  started  out  in  response  to  the  message  through 
Marco  Polo,  the  vague  terrors  of  the  East  seem  to  have 
overcome  them  and  they  turned  back,  a  wondrous  oppor- 
tunity lost.  Fifty  years  later,  when  John  de  Monte  Cor- 
vine visited  Peking  the  Nestorians  were  found  to  be  in 
considerable  numbers,  30,000  according  to  one  authority, 
while  Franciscans  also  preached  without  hindrance. 
Another  half  century  and  the  Mongol  Empire  went  to 
pieces  and  Christianity  was  crushed  out  so  completely 
that  the  story  of  its  victories  was  long  deemed  a  legend, 
until  the  discovery  of  the  Nestorian  tablet  at  Singanfu 
started  the  researches  that  little  by  little  are  bringing  his- 
tory out  of  myth. 

Islam. — Meanwhile  Islam  had  become  a  mighty 
power.  In  Persia  Zoroastrianism  and  Christianity  alike 
had  come  under  its  yoke.  In  the  Levant,  Christianity 
remained,  but  merely  as  a  chrysalis  waiting  till  the 
warmth  of  freedom  and  a  purer  Gospel  should  give  to 
it  new  life.  In  Africa  step  by  step  it  advanced,  until  the 
churches  of  North  Africa  had  disappeared  and  Copts 
and  Abyssinians  repeated  their  liturgies  but  did  no 
more.  As  the  monastic  orders  came  into  existence  they 
showed  some  missionary  zeal  towards  the  Moslem. 
Witness  the  way  in  which  Francis  of  Assisi  forced  him- 
self into  the  presence  of  the  Sultan  of  Egypt  and 
preached  Christianity  to  his  court.  Even  in  the  rush 
and    turmoil    of    the  crusades  the   madly   enthusiastic 


32  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

followers  of  Peter  the  Hermit,  the  cooler  headed  fol- 
lowers of  Godfrey  de  Bouillon,  were  actuated  not  merely 
by  the  wish  to  rescue  the  Holy  Sepulcher  from  the 
hands  of  the  Moslems,  but  by  a  desire  to  see  Islam  itself 
overborne  by  Christianity.  It  was  indeed,  a  very  mili- 
tant kind  of  missionaryism,  such  as  would  scarcely  be 
recognized  in  later  centuries  or  by  the  apostles  of  the 
preceding  ages;  yet  those  were  turbulent  times,  and 
even  religious  teaching  has  had  to  adapt  itself  to  en- 
vironment. 

Raymond  Lull  (i 235-1315). — There  was,  however, 
one  genuine  missionary  whose  efforts,  if  not  his  achieve- 
ments, place  him  in  the  front  rank  of  labourers  for  the 
spiritual  extension  of  the  faith.  Raymond  Lull,  after  the 
crusades  had  proved  futile,  inaugurated  the  gospel 
method  of  conquering  the  false  faith.  The  life  of  the 
converted  Spanish  noble  reads  like  a  romance.  His 
early  dissolute  life,  his  profound  researches  in  science, 
his  power  of  study,  his  familiarity  with  every  phase  of 
human  thought  and  activity,  were  all  but  the  preparation 
for  a  missionary  service  of  great  interest.  He  took  up 
the  work  thoroughly,  prepared  himself  for  it  carefully. 
Brought  into  close  contact  with  Islam,  he  realized  that  it 
was  the  greatest  foe  Christianity  must  meet.  He  first 
sought  to  understand  the  faith.  Finding  it  impossible 
to  secure  a  teacher  of  Arabic,  he  purchased  a  slave  and 
spent  nine  years  in  study  till  he  had  mastered  not  only 
the  language  but  the  philosophy  and  literature  of  the 
Moslems.  Realizing  that  one  man  could  do  little,  he 
tried  to  establish  institutions  in  which  priests  might 
study  various  languages  and  fit  themselves  for  mission 
work,  and  applied  to  the  King  of  Majorca,  his  home,  to 
the  Pope,  to  the  Council  of  Vienne,  to  England.     Fail- 


Mediseval  Missions  33 

ing  to  arouse  the  Church,  he  went  himself  to  Tunis, 
challenged  the  Moslem  doctors,  then  visited  Cyprus  and 
Asiatic  Turkey.  Again  he  visited  Africa,  only  to  be 
thrown  into  prison,  though  the  Moslems  spared  his  life 
in  honour  of  his  magnificent  courage.  Released,  he  re- 
turned again  to  the  contest,  and  this  time  to  sacrifice  his 
life.  His.  writings  on  missions,  his  method  suggested  for 
the  conversion  of  the  world,  especially  the  Moslem 
world,  were  long  unnoticed,  and  it  is  only  of  late  years 
that  he  has  been  awarded  a  place  in  missions,  though  al- 
ways honoured  as  a  scholar  and  a  scientist  in  the  science 
of  that  time.  He  is  the  one  connecting  link  in  missions 
between  the  apostles  of  Northern  Europe  and  the  leaders 
who,  following  the  Reformation,  carried  the  gospel  to 
every  part  of  the  rapidily  increasing  world. 

Resume. — With  the  work  of  Raymond  Lull,  the 
period  of  Mediseval  Missions  closes.  Already  the  rays 
of  the  Reformation  light  are  seen  and  a  new  era  is  dawn- 
ing. The  story  is  by  no  means  one  of  such  weakness 
and  failure  as  has  often  been  understood.  A  brief  sur- 
vey of  the  most  important  points  gained  especially  in 
connection  with  the  missionary  enterprise  must  here 
suffice. 

I.  Christianity  had  conquered  Europe.  Undoubtedly 
it  was,  viewed  in  the  clearer  light  of  to-day,  a  very 
incomplete  and  too  often  a  distorted  Christianity,  yet 
as  contrasted  with  the  paganism  it  displaced,  it  was  an 
immeasurable  advance,  in  every  particular  affecting  life 
and  character.  However  inferior  the  art  and  literature 
of  the  Middle  Ages  may  have  been  to  that  of  Rome 
and  Greece,  in  genuine  character  they  far  surpassed 
them.  It  is  as  unfair  to  judge  of  the  Middle  Ages  by 
the  Borgias,  as  of  Rome  by  Marcus  Aurelius.     Just  as 


34  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

the  latter  represented  the  best,  so  the  former  represented 
the  worst  of  their  periods.  Neither  Greece  nor  Rome 
produced  a  single  character  of  the  type  of  Patrick, 
Columbanus,  Boniface,  or  many  of  their  associates. 
However  ignorant  and  uncouth  the  masses  of  Cen- 
tral and  Northern  Europe,  they  far  outshone  in  purity 
and  nobihty  of  life  the  corresponding  masses  of  the  best 
civilization  that  preceded  them,  and  still  more  perhaps 
their  own  ancestors. 

2.  Christianity  had  planted  the  seeds  of  growth. 
Whatever  of  intellectual,  moral,  social,  civil,  political 
development  there  is  in  Europe  or  America  to-day  can 
be  traced  directly  to  the  labours  of  the  missionaries  of 
that  time,  while  the  Christian  Church  owes  them  a  debt 
of  gratitude  scarcely  less  than  it  owes  to  the  apostles  who 
under  God  gave  them  their  inspiration.  It  is  the 
custom  to  speak  of  the  Reformation  as  if  it  burst  forth 
unheralded  when  Luther  nailed  his  theses  to  the  Cathe- 
dral door.  In  truth  long  before  Luther  there  had  been 
many  protests  against  a  crystallized,  as  distinguished  from 
a  living,  Christianity,  and  these  all  found  their  springs  in 
the  missionary  spirit  of  the  noble  band  of  men,  who  laid 
the  foundations  of  the  modern  Church. 

3.  They  furnished  both  an  inspiration  and  a  chal- 
lenge to  the  modern  Church  in  its  advance  to  lands  then 
practically  unknown.  If  Christianity  then,  with  the 
comparatively  feeble  and  inadequate  means  at  its  com- 
mand, could  subdue  such  diverse  and  such  hostile  races 
as  the  Celts,  Norsemen,  Goths,  Slavs,  Magyars,  it  surely 
need  not  fear  failure  with  any  others.  If  almost  single- 
handed  its  missionaries  could  do  what  those  did,  tlie 
modern  missionary  with  the  cordial,  hearty  support  of  a 
great  Church  behind  him  should  accomplish  much  more. 


Ill 

ROMAN  CATHOLIC  MISSIONS 

UP  to  the  time  of  the  Reformation  the  mission 
work  of  the  Christian  Church  was  undivided; 
whether  they  laboured  in  Asia  or  Europe,  the 
missionaries  carried  one  gospel  not  merely  in  substance, 
but  in  form.  The  conflict  in  China  between  the 
Nestorians  and  the  Franciscan  John  de  Monte  Corvino 
serves  to  emphasize  this  general  unity.  The  Reforma- 
tion made  a  break,  and  since  then  Christian  foreign  mis- 
sions have  been  carried  on  by  two  very  different,  and  not 
seldom  antagonistic,  forces — Roman  Catholicism  and 
Protestantism.  Because  of  the  results  of  Roman 
Catholic  Missions  in  some  countries,  notably  the 
Spanish-American  colonies,  and  the  grievous  scandal  in 
India,  there  have  been  not  a  few  to  deny  that  they 
have  done  any  real  good  ;  and  the  repeated  use  by  some 
of  their  missionaries  of  any  means  to  secure  their  ends 
has  greatly  discredited  the  work  of  all.  Without  discuss- 
ing the  rival  merits  of  the  two  systems,  it  is  sufficient  to 
say  that,  just  as  Protestants  use  and  rejoice  in  the  hymns 
of  Roman  Catholic  devotion,  so  the  records  of  Roman 
Catholic  Missions  contain  very  much  of  inspiration  for 
them,  and  in  not  a  few  cases  of  helpful  suggestion. 

Maritime  Discoveries. — From  the  time  of  Raymond 
Lull  for  nearly  two  centuries  there  was  little  or  no 
mission  enterprise  of  any  kind.  In  the  East,  Islam  had 
overborne   Christianity  so  completely  that  scarcely  more 

35 


36  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

than  the  form  remained.  In  Central  Europe,  popes, 
emperors,  and  kings  were  so  engrossed  with  political 
ambitions  that  there  was  little  inclination  and  less  time 
for  aggressive  Christianity.  In  Southwestern  Europe 
alone  did  there  seem  to  be  any  special  interest  in  the  ex- 
tension of  the  Church.  This  was  due  in  considerable 
measure  to  two  things.  The  victory  of  Islam  was  by  no 
means  complete,  and  the  Saracens  had  succeeded  less 
there  than  anywhere  else  in  repressing  Christian  activity, 
while  the  constant  conflict  with  them  served  to  keep  up 
that  activity.  More  potent  however  than  this  were  the 
great  maritime  discoveries  of  the  age.  Little  by  little  the 
Spaniards  and  Portuguese  felt  their  way  along  the  west 
coast  of  Africa,  and  with  the  sailors  went  the  priests. 
Nominally  at  least,  the  conversion  of  the  natives  was  a 
prime  object  with  Prince  Henry  the  Navigator  of  Portugal 
(1433)  ;  two  years  before  Columbus  landed  on  this  con- 
tinent a  Congo  king  was  baptized  in  Portugal  and  on  his 
return  to  his  own  country  was  accompanied  by  missionaries 
under  whose  preaching  the  natives  became  largely 
Christian.  Then,  almost  at  once,  came  the  discovery  of 
the  New  World  in  the  West,  and  the  new  route  to  India 
in  the  East,  opening  up  almost  unlimited  colonies  to  the 
Church  as  well  as  to  the  merchants. 

The  Jesuits. — Meanwhile  the  influences  that  resulted 
in  the  Reformation  were  beginning  to  work  among  vari- 
ous classes,  Wyclif  in  England  (13 24-1 384)  and  Huss 
in  Bohemia  (1369-1415),  had  aroused  many  question- 
ings, and  just  as  the  outside  world  was  being  brought  to 
knowledge,  Savonarola  (145 2-1498)  was  preaching  right- 
eousness in  Florence,  while  in  Spain  Ignatius  Loyola 
(1491-1556)  exerted  a  greater  direct  influence  in  the 
extension  of  Christianity  than  perhaps  any  other  since 


Roman  Catholic  Missions  37 

the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  After  two  centuries  of  life 
the  Franciscans  and  Dominicans  had  become  somewhat 
less  urgent  in  their  preaching,  and  there  seemed  need  for 
a  new  impulse.  In  Italy  the  order  of  the  Capuchins  was 
formed  (1528),  and  in  1534  Loyola,  Xavier  and  others 
organized  the  Society  of  Jesus,  the  specific  object  being 
the  extension  of  the  Church  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
The  order  was  confirmed  by  the  Pope  in  1540,  and 
Loyola  became  its  first  general  in  1541.  Its  members 
took  upon  themselves  the  monastic  vows,  but  allowed  no 
monastic  rules  to  interfere  with  the  carrying  out.  of  their 
great  object.  At  first  their  intention  appears  to  have 
been  to  locate  at  Jerusalem  and  labour  for  the  conversion 
of  the  Saracens;  but  soon  their  purpose  broadened  to 
take  in  the  Church  at  home  as  well  as  the  heathen 
world  abroad.  Each  member  was  bound  to  render  in- 
stant, absolute  obedience  to  his  superior,  no  matter  what 
was  involved,  whether  he  was  to  go  to  the  farthest  corner 
of  the  world  or  remain  and  instruct  youth  in  the  capitals 
and  courts  of  Europe. 

Francis  Xavier  (1506-155 2). — While  Loyola  re- 
mained in  Europe  to  direct  the  order  in  its  general  work, 
Xavier,  his  associate  as  well  as  disciple,  commenced  the 
great  foreign  missionary  work  of  the  order,  and  gave  the 
impulse  which  was  caught  up  by  numerous  successors, 
until  the  record  of  the  sixteenth  century,  so  far  at  least 
as  the  extension  of  the  Church  went,  is  one  of  the  most 
wonderful  in  its  history.  In  1542,  about  thirty  years 
after  the  capture  of  Goa  by  the  Portuguese,  the  King  of 
Portugal  applied  to  Loyola  for  a  missionary  to  go  to  the 
new  settlements  on  the  Malabar  coast.  Xavier  received 
from  the  Pope  the  appointment  as  apostolic  nuncio  for 
India,  and   commenced   his  work  among  the  Christian 


38  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

settlements,  where  for  nearly  a  century  Franciscans  and 
Dominicans  had  been  putting  forth  their  best  energies, 
not  so  much  among  the  heathen  as  among  the  Syrian 
Christians,  the  remnant  of  the  Nestorian  mission.  The 
establishment  of  a  Patriarchate  at  Goa,  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  Inquisition  had  failed  to  accomplish  much, 
and  Xavier  turned  his  attention  to  the  surrounding 
heathen  communities  along  the  coast,  both  west  and 
east.  Wherever  he  went  his  influence  was  marvellous, 
and  although  he  never  learned  the  languages  of  the 
countries  where  he  laboured  so  as  to  be  independent  of 
an  interpreter,  he  won  converts  by  the  thousands,  por 
three  years  he  worked  in  South  India,  chiefly  among  the 
lower  castes,  and  then  went  to  the  Chinese  Archipelago, 
Malacca,  the  Moluccas,  and  other  islands.  In  1549  he 
went  to  Japan,  where  he  laboured  for  two  years  with 
marked  success.  It  was  his  earnest  desire  to  enter  China, 
but  he  did  not  succeed,  and  died  in  1552,  ten  years  after 
his  arrival  at  Goa. 

The  work  inaugurated  by  Xavier  was  carried  on  with 
considerable  success  for  about  fifty  years.  Then  Robert 
Nobili,  and  some  associates,  including  De  Brito,  one  of 
the  most  learned  of  the  Jesuits,  dissatisfied  with  con- 
versions among  the  poorer  people,  sought  to  reach  the 
Brahmans,  and  instituted  a  series  of  accommodations  to 
heathen  customs  which  was  carried  on  for  a  century  and 
a  half  in  India  and  China,  and  created  such  scandal  as 
to  call  forth  the  repeated  condemnation  of  the  popes,  and 
at  last  resulted  in  the  suppression  of  the  order.  Believ- 
ing their  foreign  origin  to  be  a  serious  hindrance  to  in- 
fluence with  the  Brahmans  in  India  and  the  mandarins  in 
China,  they  sought  to  conceal  that  as  much  as  possible. 
They  not  only  dressed  in  the  native  costume,  but  adopted 


Roman  Catholic  Missions  39 

many  of  the  native  habits,  even  joining  in  idolatrous 
worship.  The  truth  of  these  statements  has  been  vehe- 
mently denied  by  the  Jesuits,  who  have  affirmed  that  they 
were  due  to -the  jealousy  of  the  discredited  Dominicans. 

Results  in  Asia. — Judged  by  numbers,  the  success  I 
of  these  missions  in  the  East  was  marvellous. ,  The  con- 
verts were  among  the  hundreds  of  thousands.  It  is  un- 
questionable, also,  that  there  was  very  much  of  spiritual 
life  among  the  converts,  which  not  even  the  evils  referred 
to  above  could  entirely  neutralize.  The  constancy  mani- 
fested by  them  even  in  the  face  of  bitter  persecution  is 
not  in  itself  a  sure  proof,  for  the  wildest  of  vagaries  will 
secure  the  ardent  devotion  of  multitudes ;  but  there  was 
in  these  instances  manifest  much  of  true  Christian  forti- 
tude. More  important  still  is  the  fact  that  the  work 
held  on  so  long,  and  that  even  after  some  centuries  traces 
were  found  of  the  communities.  The  great  defect  of 
these  missions  was  that  the  acceptance  of  the  signs  and  1 
symbols  of  Christianity  was  not  followed  up  by  such  1 
education  as  would  enable  Christian  character  to  grow. 
Each  successive  generation  accepted  what  it  was  taught 
by  the  priests,  who  failed  in  most  cases  to  imitate  the 
great  leaders  of  mediaeval  missions,  who  sought  every- 
where to  found  schools,  that  the  people  might  learn  for 
themselves.  It  is .  significant,  too,  that,  notwithstanding 
the  great  scholarship  of  many  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries 
of  that  day,  no  contributions  were  made  to  Bible  trans- 
lation. When,  two  and  a  half  centuries  later,  Protestant 
missionaries  went  into  those  same  fields,  they  found 
themselves  without  the  slightest  basis  for  work  in  the 
form  of  existing  versions  of  the  Scriptures. 

Africa. — While  Xavier's  work  in  Asia  has  held  the 
most  prominent  place  in  the  public  eye,  so  far  as  missions 


40  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  are  concerned,  it  was  by 
no  means  the  sole,  or  on  the  whole  the  most  successful, 
effort  of  that  Church.  Some  years  before  he  went  to 
Goa,  Dominican  missionaries  were  gathering  thousands 
of  converts  on  the  west  shore  of  Africa.  The  Jesuits 
followed,  and  Christian  communities  were  established. 
The  selfish  plans  of  the  Portuguese  traders  neutralized 
much  of  the  work,  so  that  neither  Jesuits  in  1550,  nor 
Capuchins  nearly  a  century  later,  were  able  to  success- 
fully stem  the  tide,  and  the  Christian  communities  be- 
came so  degraded  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century  the  scattered  remnant  compared  unfavourably 
with  their  heathen  neighbours,  although  Livingstone  was 
surprised  at  the  numbers  who  could  read  and  write. 
Had  the  Jesuits  followed  the  example  of  Ulfilas,  Cyril 
and  Methodius,  the  story  of  African  Missions  might  have 
been  a  very  different  one. 

Central  and  South  America. — The  opening  up  of 
the  New  World  offered  an  opportunity  which  the  Church 
was  not  slow  to  accept.  Whether  or  not  Columbus  can 
fairly  be  regarded  as  a  missionary,  many  of  those  who 
followed  him  were  impelled  by  missionary  motives.  Las 
Casas,  the  "Apostle  of  the  West  Indies,"  did  noble 
work  in  Cuba,  being  the  first  priest  ordained  (15 10)  in 
the  New  World.  He  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Indians, 
and  was  named  "Protector  of  the  Indians"  by  Cardinal 
Ximenes,  with  considerable  powers,  and  mitigated  so  far 
as  he  could  their  slavery.  In  this  he  was  cordially  sup- 
ported by  many  of  the  Dominicans,  who  came  in  later. 
Other  orders  followed,  and  Mexico,  Peru,  Colombia,  and 
Brazil  were  the  scene  of  much  earnest  work. 

With  every  conquest  by  Spain  or  Portugal  the  Roman 
Catholics  extended  their  own  sway,  although  not  infre- 


Roman  Catholic  Missions  41 

quently  the  two  came  into  conflict,  as  when  the  Jesuits 
in  Paraguay  became  convinced  that  the  conversion  of 
the  Spanish  conquerors  was  an  essential  prerequisite  to 
that  of  the  .subject  Indians,  and,  failing  that,  secured 
from  the  home  government  the  right  to  govern  their 
converts  themselves. 

The  story  of  this  Paraguay  mission  is  unique  in  mis- 
sionary annals,  a  notable  tribute  to  the  remarkable 
efficiency  of  the  Jesuit  work,  but  also  to  its  inevitable 
failure  through  their  refusal  to  give  the  Bible  to  the 
people.  Had  their  industrial  schools  and  general  moral 
training  been  along  the  lines  of  the  work  of  Boni- 
face in  Germany,  it  is  scarcely  possible  that  after  the 
political  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits  (1767)  the  people 
should  have  so  thoroughly  relapsed  to  savagery.  Indeed, 
the  general  result  was  that  the  childlike  savages,  while 
ready  enough  to  change  their  form  of  worship,  were  not 
so  instructed  in  the  essential  principles  of  Christian  truth 
and  morals  as  to  furnish  the  basis  of  a  Christian  state. 
As  a  consequence  the  Roman  Catholic  countries  of  South 
and  Central  America  have  been  noted  as  the  most  igno- 
rant of  all  countries  bearing  the  Christian  name.  This 
is  undoubtedly  due  in  part  to  the  character  of  the  native 
races,  indolent  and  immoral ;  but  more  to  the  absolute 
failure  of  the  earlier  missionaries  to  provide  the  Bible,  or 
to  emphasize  the  spiritual  principles  of  Christianity. 

North  America. — Somewhat  better  is  the  record  for 
Spanish  North  America.  A  company  of  Franciscan 
monks  landed  in  Florida  in  1528,  and  were  followed  by 
Dominicans  and  Jesuits,  but  they  seem  to  have  accom- 
plished little  except  at  St.  Augustine.  To  the  north, 
among  the  Zunis  of  New  Mexico  and  in  California  there 
was  more  success.     It  was  in  French  America,  however, 


42  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

that  the  Roman  Catholic  missions  have  won  the  noblest 
laurels.  Jesuits  and  Franciscan  Recollets,  among  the 
Iroquois,  Hurons,  Dakotas  and  other  tribes  from  the 
coasts  of  Maine  to  the  Great  Lakes,  met  the  most  bitter 
opposition,  and  the  record  of  their  devotion  and  courage 
is  one  of  the  most  fascinating  in  secular  as  well  as  ec- 
clesiastical history.  The  sterner  character  of  the  North 
American  Indians  was  not  so  easily  influenced  as  that  of 
the  Southern  races,  and  so  bitter  was  the  feeling  against 
the  foreigners  that  it  is  said  that  not  one  of  the  original 
missionaries  failed  of  the  crown  of  martyrdom,  often  suf- 
fering the  most  terrible  tortures  with  a  heroism  that  stirred 
the  admiration  even  of  their  stoic  murderers.  Fast  as 
the  leaders  fell  others  came  to  fill  their  places,  but  with 
no  permanent  advantage.  Tribal  wars  combined  with 
loyalty  to  the  Indian  faith  and  the  essentially  unstable 
character  of  nomadic  tribes  tended  to  destroy  the  work, 
and  ultimately  not  only  the  missions  themselves,  but  al- 
most all  traces  of  their  work,  were  obliterated.  Another 
influence  of  great  moment  was  the  political  opposition  of 
the  English  government  to  everything  French  ;  and  here, 
too,  as  in  so  many  instances,  Jesuit  accommodations  to 
the  superstitions  of  the  people  had  its  result  in  a  weaker 
foundation  in  faith.  No  failures  of  judgment  or  of 
method,  however,  can  cloud  the  magnificent  zeal  and 
heroism  of  those  workers.  No  sacrifice  was  too  great,  no 
difficulty  too  mighty  to  be  overcome,  and  all  with  a  pa- 
tience and  sweetness  of  temper  which  form  one  of  the 
noblest  chapters  of  history. 

Rome  and  the  Eastern  Church. — The  impulse 
given  to  Roman  Catholic  ipissions  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury was  to  a  great  degree  expended  by  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth,  and  the  latter  part    of  tliat    as   well  as   the 


Roman  Catholic  Missions  43 

entire  nineteenth  century  were  not  marked  by  any  ex- 
tended missionary  enterprise  except  as  it  was  directed  to 
bringing  into  communion  with  the  Church  of  Rome  the 
various  branches  especially  of  the  Eastern  Church,  which 
reject  the  supremacy  of  the  -Pope.  Thus  in  Southeastern 
Europe  numerous  communities,  Ruthenian,  Polish,  Sla- 
vonic, and.  others,  as  they  came  under  the  political  power 
of  Roman  Catholic  empires,  notably,  Austria-Hungary, 
were  drawn  to  accept  the  papacy,  while  permitted  to  re- 
tain their  Greek  ritual  and  certain  ecclesiastical  customs. 
In  the  same  way  the  Maronites  of  Syria,  a  portion  of  the 
Armenian  Church,  some  Copts  and  others,  were  ab- 
sorbed. In  Mesopotamia  the  old  Chaldsean  or  Jacobite 
Church  was  very  nearly  displaced  by  the  Catholic,  and 
some  Nestorians  were  brought  in,  particularly  some  por- 
tions of  the  Syrian  Church  of  Malabar.  In  Abyssinia  at 
one  time  they  secured  control,  but  lost  it  through  a  political 
revolution,  and  have  been  able  to  accomplish  nothing 
since.  In  some  cases  they  have  contributed  to  educa- 
tion, as  is  the  case  in  Syria,  where  the  Jesuit  press  has  is- 
sued some  notable  books,  and  maintains  a  high  grade  of 
scholarship.  So  also  the  most  complete  Armenian  schol- 
arship is  in  connection  with  the  '' United  Armenian  " 
Monastery  at  Venice. 

The  Propaganda. — It  was  perhaps  due  in  part  to 
the  scandals  connected  with  the  Jesuit  missions  in  Africa, 
in  part  to  the  rivalries  of  the  different  orders  engaged  in 
mission  work  in  different  lands,  but  still  more  to  the  in- 
creasing centralization  of  the  authority  of  the  Roman 
See,  that  as  early  as  1580  Pope  Gregory  XIII  had 
directed  that  the  work  of  missions,  especially  in  Oriental 
lands,  should  be  under  the  care  of  certain  cardinals.  It 
was  not,  however,  until  1622  that  the  present  missionary 


44  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

organization  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  was  formed. 
Pope  Gregory  XV,  the  first  pupil  of  the  Jesuits  to  ascend 
the  papal  throne,  who  inaugurated  the  present  method  of 
election  and  consecration  of  the  popes,  Cbtablislied  the 
CoDgregatio  de  Propaganda  Fide,  which  has  ever  since 
had  complete  control  of  ail  the  mission  enterprises  of 
the  Church.  The  society,  ordinarily  called  simply  Ihe 
Propaganda,  composed  of  a  varying  number  of  cardinals, 
averaging  thirty,  has  its  seat  in  Rome,  and  employs  a 
large  number  of  officials.  There  is  also  connected  with 
it  a  college  for  the  training  of  priests,  which  has  stu- 
dents from  every  race  and  nation  in  the  world.  In  gen- 
eral the  world  is  divided  into  terra  Catholica  and  terra 
f?nssionis,  according  to  which  every  country  whose  secu- 
lar government  does  not  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of 
the  Pope  is  included  in  the  latter,  and  is  under  the  gen- 
eral supervision  and  authority  of  the  society. 

Thus  all  Protestant,  Greek  and  non-Christian  lands  are 
classed  as  mission  territory,  and  are  under  a  different  ec- 
clesiastical rule  from  the  officially  Roman  Catholic  coun- 
tries, as  Spain,  Portugal,  Austria,  Italy  and  the  Spanish 
American  States.  Practically,  however,  there  is  of  course 
great  difference  in  the  nature  of  the  control  exercised  here 
and  in  Central  Africa.  It  is  also  true  that  large  liberty  is 
allowed  to  the  different  orders  which  still  conduct  the 
greater  part  of  the  missionary  work  of  the  Church.  It  is, 
however,  also  true  that  the  movements  and  duties  of 
every  ecclesiastic,  bishop,  or  priest  in  every  non-Catholic 
country  are  under  the  direction  of  this  society,  and  may 
be  changed  at  any  moment  at  the  discretion  of  its  members. 

In  this  distinction  is  found  also  the  explanation  of  much 
of  the  political  activity  of  the  Church,  and  its  peculiar 
relations  to  the  French  Republic,  manifest  especially  in 


Roman  Catholic  Missions  45 

Madagascar.  This  centralization  of  authority  has  its  very 
evident  advantages  in  the  efficiency  of  the  work,  the 
minimizing  of  waste  and  economy  of  administration,  al- 
<though  entirely  incompatible  with  the  Protestant  idea  of 
independent,  free  action.  .  Its  weakness  appears  in  the 
fact  that  Roman  Catholics  contribute  proportionately  far 
less  than  Protestants  (according  to  Cardinal  Lavigerie, 
one  twentieth  as  much)  to  the  work  of  missions.  All 
subscriptions  go  to  the  society,  and  are  used  according  to 
its  judgment,  no  account  being  rendered.  It  has  also 
been  the  case  that  while  formerly  well  endowed  the  so- 
ciety's resources  have  so  diminished,  since  the  loss  of  the 
temporal  power  of  the  Pope,  that  the  funds  have  barely 
sufficed  for  administration,  and  left  little  or  nothing  for 
pressing  the  foreign  work. 

"  Propagation  of  the  Faith." — With  the  marked  de-  , 
velopment  of  Protestant  missions  there  grew  up  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  among  the  laity,  and  particu- 
larly among  devout  women,  a  strong  desire  for  a  share 
in  the  extension  of  the  Church.  The  immediate  impulse 
was  given  chiefly  by  an  American  prelate,  Bishop  Dubourg, 
of  New  Orleans,  who  was  very  anxious  to  carry  on  the 
work  in  his  parish,  but  found  himself  hampered  by  lack 
of  money  as  well  as  of  sympathy  at  Rome.  While  on  a 
visit  in  Lyons,  France,  he  met  Madame  Petit,  a  good 
woman  who  was  deeply  interested  in  religious  activities, 
and  suggested  that  she  use  a  portion  of  her  fortune  in 
founding  a  charitable  association  to  aid  in  his  work  in 
Louisiana.  As  the  scheme  became  known,  urgent  appli- 
cations began  to  come  in  from  other  sections,  and  the  re- 
sult was  the  organization  at  Lyons  in  1822  of  the  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith.  The  similarity  of 
names  has  often  caused  it  to  be  mistaken  for  the  ecclesi- 


46  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

astical  organization.  It  is,  however,  purely  an  aid  society, 
having  to  do  with  the  raising  of  funds  and  not  at  all  with 
the  selection  of  missionaries,  the  establishment  or  conduct 
of  missions.  That  remains  with  the  Roman  hierarchy. 
It  has,  however,  done  much  to  arouse  and  develop  mis- 
sionary activity  in  the  Church. 

The  society  has  two  councils,  at  Lyons  and  at  Paris, 
composed  chiefly  of  laymen,  which  divide  between  them 
the  entire  field  of  mission  work,  but  act  conjointly  in  the 
aj)portionment  of  funds.  There  are  branches  in  various 
countries,  the  American  branch  having  its  headquarters 
at  Baltimore,  Md.  The  conditions  of  membership  are 
the  daily  use  of  certain  prayers  and  the  systematic  giving 
of  at  least  five  cents  a  month.  There  is  an  elaborate  sys- 
tem of  collectors,  among  whom  the  entire  Roman  Cath- 
olic community  is  apportioned,  and  who  have  charge  not 
only  of  receiving  the  subscriptions,  but  of  distributing 
the  records  of  the  society.  The  income  the  first  year  was 
four  thousand  dollars,  and  was  divided,  one-third  given 
to  Eastern  Missions,  the  remainder  to  Louisiana  and 
Kentucky.  Any  attempt  at  a  summary  of  present  day 
Roman  Catholic  missions  is  rendered  extremely  difficult 
owing  to  the  varied  use  of  the  terms  missions  and  mis- 
sionaries. The  Annals  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Faith  make  an  estimate  of  about  •'65,000 
missionaries,  including  15,000  priests  and  others  dedi- 
cated to  the  religious  life;  5,000  teaching  brothers, 
and  45,000  sisters.  These  are  apart  from  the  priests, 
brothers  and  sisters,  native  to  the  regions  where  they 
work,  catechists  and  others  who  make  up  the  per- 
sonnel of  a  mission,  and  the  labourers  among  the  Oriental 
Rites."  These  are  distributed  in  every  part  of  the  world, 
most  extensively  in  Asia  and  Africa. 


Roman  Catholic  Missions  47 

Methods. — With  regard  to  the  methods  adopted  by 
the  Roman  CathoHc  missions,  it  is  also  somewhat 
difficult  to  speak  very  definitely.  The  lack  of  full  re- 
ports, the  absolute  centralization,  attended  by  a  discipline 
which  to  the  Protestant  is  incomprehensible,  and  which 
seals  the  lips  of  missionaries,  combine  to  throw  around 
the  entire  work  of  the  Church  a  veil  of  mystery.  Two 
results  follow  :  the  mistakes  or  misfortunes  of  the  missions 
are  doubtless  magnified,  and  much  good  work  is  so 
covered  and  clouded  as  to  be  ignored.  Wherever 
Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant  missions  have  come  into 
such  relations  that  some  knowledge  was  available,  three 
characteristics  have  been  very  marked  :  special  effort  for 
the  young,  manifest  in  the  number  of  schools,  and  par- 
ticularly of  orphanages ;  the  effort  to  impose  the  distinc- 
tive European,  even  Italian,  type  of  church  life,  sup- 
pressing all  individuality ;  a  very  close  alliance  with 
political  interests. 

Child-Training. — Almost  all  mission  lands  can  fur- 
nish a  very  nearly  unlimited  supply  of  orphans ;  chil- 
dren whose  parents  are  either  dead,  or  glad  to  be  so  con- 
sidered, if  thereby  they  may  be  relieved  of  the  care  of 
their  offspring.  With  great  wisdom  this  fact  has  been 
seized  upon  not  merelj  from  a  genuine  desire  to  relieve 
suffering,  but  because  it  offers  what  is  considered  the  best 
possible  basis  for  a  strong  Roman  Catholic  community. 
Accordingly  wherever  there  are  Roman  Catholic  mis- 
sions, in  whatever  land,  there  are  to  be  found  schools, 
asylums  and  orphanages  in  abundance.  At  times  it 
almost  seems  as  if  any  effort  to  reach  adults  had  been 
dropped.  At  least  very  little  is  apparent,  except  where 
other  influences,  chiefly  political,  can  be  brought  to 
bear,   and   where    the   sentiment   of  national   life  and 


48  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

individual  development  has  not  yet  been  awakened,  as 
in  Africa. 

Missionaries. — To  this  care  to  educate  and  train  up 
children,  the  Roman  Catholic  missions  chiefly  owe  what 
success  they  have  achieved,  for  the  other  two  characteris- 
tics noted  above  operate  everywhere,  sooner  or  later,  as 
a  deterrent,  and  not  merely  weaken,  but  frequently  de- 
stroy, whatever  of  strength  has  been  acquired.  There 
are  large  numbers  of  devoted  men  and  women  among 
these  missionaries ;  as  pure  of  life,  as  devoted  in  their 
service,  as  true  in  their  religious  faith,  as  any  messengers 
of  the  Cross.  It  is,  however,  equally  a  fact  that  among 
them  are  some  of  a  very  different  type,  and  under  the  pe- 
culiar constitution  of  the  Church,  these  latter  too  often 
give  the  tone  to  the  mission,  and  there  is  no  way  of 
eliminating  them.  With  absolute  authority  centered  in 
the  headquarters  of  the  orders,  and  in  Rome,  there  is 
practically  no  escape.  Again,  the  custom,  amounting  to 
a  rule,  of  sending  natives  who  are  chosen  for  the  priest- 
hood to  Rome  for  training,  results  invariably  in  their  re- 
turn to  impress  upon  their  people  the  Roman  type.  The 
result  is,  a  separation  between  them  and  their  congrega- 
tions, who  feel  the  pressure  of  the  Occident  even  though 
it  is  not  always  manifest.  With  the  new  life  rising 
everywhere  in  Asia,  and  beginning  to  bud  in  Africa,  it  is 
inevitable  that  this  should  be  more  and  more  apparent. 
China,  Japan,  India,  will  never  be  dominated  by  Italy, 
and  unless  Rome  finds  some  way  of  recognizing  and  fos- 
tering the  spirit  of  nationalism,  she  will  find  her  hold, 
still  a  strong  one,  weakening  rather  than  strengthening. 
Especially  is  this  true  in  the  realm  of  religious  thought 
and  worship.  The  mission  world  is  practically  either 
idolatrous  or  Moslem.     A  comparatively  small  number  of 


Roman  Catholic  Missions  49 

Hindus,  Chinese  and  Japanese  may  refuse  the  former  term, 
but  the  proportion  is  so  insignificant  as  to  be  negligible. 
The  idolatrous  as  they  are  awakening  are  weary  of  their 
worship.  The  Roman  Catholic  ritual,  is,  to  their  view, 
too  near  of  kin  to  be  attractive.  The  pendulum  must 
swing  the  other  way.  As  for  the  Moslem,  he  looks 
upon  the  ceremonies  with  ineffable  disgust.  Some  indeed 
perceive  the  deeper  meaning,  but  with  intellectual  life  de- 
veloping their  number  is  small.  Roman  Catholic  schools 
and  education  on  mission  fields  seldom  go  far  beyond 
the  primary  grades  except  for  those  considered  safe. 

Political  Relations. — Perhaps  no  one  feature  of  Ro- 
man Catholic  missions  has  aroused  more  bitter  hostility 
than  their  political  alliances.  These  have  been  every- 
where, and  have  worked  either  to  the  disadvantage  of 
the  existing  government,  except  when  that  was  amenable, 
or  to  the  suppression  of  the  people.  Especially  notable 
has  this  been  in  the  relations  with  the  Oriental  Christian 
Churches,  Greek,  Armenian,  Jacobite,  etc.  It  has  al- 
ways been  one  of  the  mysteries  of  international  politics, 
at  least  to  Americans,  that  a  Republic  like  France,  should 
in  its  colonial  and  general  foreign  policy,  follow  a  course 
so  opposite  to  that  adopted  within  its  own  borders. 
There  is  not  a  French  colony  where  there  is  genuine  re- 
ligious freedom.  The  colonies  in  North  Africa,  in  South- 
east Asia,  in  the  Pacific  Islands,  are,  with  rare  exceptions, 
nearly  as  absolutely  dominated  by  the  Roman  Catholic 
hierarchy  as  any  South  American  State.  One  most  no- 
table exception  is  Madagascar,  where  by  a  strange 
revulsion,  the  Church  that  was  for  a  time  supreme  and 
thought  to  crush  out  all  Protestant  missions,  has  felt  the 
same  power  exerted  in  France,  and  equally  with  Protes- 
tants is  under  the  ban  it  has  placed  on  others.     In  China, 


^o  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

the  readiness  of  the  Roman  Catholic  priests  to  interfere 
in  judicial  matters  undoubtedly  had  considerable  in- 
fluence in  bringing  on  the  Boxer  uprising.  It  is  simply 
the  natural  outcome  of  the  principle  that  Church  and 
State  are  one.  When  Roman  Catholic  missions  have 
learned  the  lesson  that  the  Church  in  America  seems  to 
have  learned,  that  the  two  are  not  necessarily  to  be 
united,  it  will  be  far  more  easy  for  the  real  power  of  the 
Church  to  make  itself  felt  and  do  a  permanent  and  val- 
uable work. 


EARLY  PROTESTANT  MISSIONS 

THE  two  and  a  half  centuries  that  followed  the 
nailing  by  Luther  of  his  theses  to  the  church 
door  at  Wittenberg  are  generally  looked  upon 
as  bare  of  interest  for  the  student  of  missions.  -  It  is  cer- 
tainly true  that  there  was  no  general  missionary  activity. 
There  was  not  even  the  conception  of  the  enterprise  as 
it  is  found  in  almost  all  the  churches  of  to-day. 
Many  efforts  have  been  made  to  prove  that  Luther, 
Calvin,  Zwingli  and  Knox,  really  had  the  missionary 
spirit,  but  were  so  overwhelmed  with  the  duties  of  the 
hour  in  establishing  their  new  communities  in  the  faith, 
in  developing  their  church  life,  that  the  needs  of  the  out- 
side world  were  simply  overborne. 

The  argument  has  however  proved  a  halting  one,  and 
the  fact  must  be  accepted  that  these  great  men  knew 
little,  and  cared  less,  about  the  Turks  and  other  infidels 
of  distant  and  little  khown  lands.  It  does  not,  however, 
by  any  means  follow  that  this  period  can  be  ignored.  If 
there  was  no  general  mission  activity,  there  were  inter- 
esting missionary  experiments,  and  most  important  of  all, 
during  these  years  and  by  these  very  leaders,  were  be- 
ing laid  the  foundations  of  the  work  that  was  to  follow. 

Any  full  statement  of  this  time  is  not  necessary  here, 
yet  certain  conditions  deserve  special  mention. 

I.  The  Church  as  a  whole  had  lost  its  hold  on  the 
very   fundamental   principles   of  Christian   truth.      Not 

51 


52  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

merely  was  a  new  statement  necessary,  but  a  new  con- 
ception of  what  is  meant  by  "  The  Kingdom  of  God." 

2.  Christian  fellowship  had  been  supplanted  by 
ecclesiasticism.  A  new  principle  of  church  organization 
had  to  be  brought  into  being,  as  well  as  a  new  form  of 
its  application. 

3.  The  sense  of  individual  Christian  responsibility 
had  practically  disappeared  and  had  to  be  almost 
recreated. 

Personal  Responsibility The  key-note  of  modern 

missionary  activity  is  the  personal  responsibility  of  the 
individual  Christian  for  the  individual  salvation  of  non- 
Christians.  To  develop  such  a  principle  out  of  the  con- 
ditions that  ruled  for  twelve  centuries,  and  in  such  cha- 
otic conditions  of  social,  political,  intellectual  and  even 
moral  and  spiritual  life,  as  those  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
was  a  slow  process.  If  there  is  any  one  fact  that  ap- 
pears in  the  history  of  the  development  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God,  it  is  that  the  Almighty  is  never  in  a  hurry.  He 
can  move,  and  has  moved,  with  a  rapidity  that  almost 
stuns  the  mind  and  soul,  but  it  has  always  been  after  long 
periods  of  preparation.  To  develop  this  individual  re- 
sponsibility and  activity  required  first  that  men  should 
learn  to  think  for  themselves  ;  then  act  for  themselves  ; 
then  act  together  without  losing  the  individual  conscious- 
ness. In  each  process  the  human  element,  which  never 
yet  in  any  department  of  life  has  progressed  evenly  or 
harmoniously,  must  be  kept  in  mind  if  the  sum  total  of 
achievement  is  to  be  understood  or  appreciated.  In 
truth  there  is  not  a  denominational  division  of  the 
Church  to-day  whose  roots  do  not  go  back  into  that 
period  ;  there  is  not  a  form  of  missionary  method,  nor  a 
principle  of  missionary  policy,  that  cannot   be  found  in 


Early  Protestant  Missions  53 

germ,  in  the  movements,  the  discussions,  the  very  life  of 
those  centuries.  In  fact,  for  the  possibiUty  of  the  great 
advance  of  the  present  generation  we  are  indebted  to  the 
impulses,  even  the  strifes,  through  which  men  came  to  a 
sense  of  themselves,  their  individual  relations  to  God, 
their  individual  responsibilities  for  their  neighbour. 

This  appears  in  the  record  of  the  missionary  under- 
takings of  those  centuries.  They  were  all  individual, 
yet  of  essentially  a  different  type  of  individualism,  from 
that  of  the  apostles  of  the  preceding  centuries.  Ulfilas, 
Patrick,  Columbanus,  Boniface,  realized  the  jesponsi- 
bility  on  themselves,  but  seemed  to  have  little  conception 
of  associate  individual  responsibility.  The  first  appeal 
for  missions  in  the  Reformed  Church  was  from  Erasmus, 
and  through  the  whole  of  that  remarkable  paper,  quoted 
at  length  by  Dr.  Smith,^  there  runs  the  same  thought 
that  appears  in  many  a  modern  missionary  address. 
The  same  element  appeared  in  the  movements  inaugu- 
rated by  Grotius,  Leibnitz,  Gustavus  Vasa,  King 
Frederick  of  Denmark,  and  particularly  expressed  by 
Von  Welz,  and  came  to  its  fuller  expression  in  the 
Pietists  who  laid  the  foundation  for  the  Moravian  work, 
the  spiritual  revolution  that  expressed  itself  in  Meth- 
odism and  the  revival  vhose  great  fruit  was  Carey  and 
the  modern  missionary  activity. 

Protestant  Colonies. — Reviewing  these  movements 
very  briefly,  we  must  pass  with  a  mere  mention  the 
Calvin-Coligny  expedition  (1555)  to  Brazil,  for  that  was 
no  more  missionary  in  its  direct  purpose  than  the  voyage 
of  the  Mayflower.  Had  it  succeeded  it  might  have  de- 
veloped a  form  of  missionary  effort  just  as  the  Pilgrims 
did,  but  it  failed   through   the  deception  of  the  man  on 

i«*  Short  History  of  Missions." 


54  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

whom  it  depended.  More  missionary  in  its  character 
was  the  effort  of  Gustavus  Vasa  (1559)  to  evangehze  and 
educate  the  Lapps. 

Then  came  the  opening  up  of  Protestant  colonial  en- 
terprise, Holland  leading  the  way,  but  England  sharing 
in  its  opportunities  and  responsibilities.  It  was  in  con- 
nection with  the  Dutch  acquirement  of  the  East  Indies 
that  Grotius  wrote  his  treatise  on  the  "Evidences  of 
Christianity  "  as  a  text-book  for  the  clergy  who  went  out 
to  the  colonies,  primarily  indeed  to  care  for  their  fellow 
countrymen,  but  also  to  preach  to  the  natives,  and  so  im- 
portant was  it  deemed  that  a  department  for  the  special 
training  of  these  missionaries  was  inaugurated  in  the 
University  of  Leyden.  Not  content  with  this  general  in- 
fluence, Grotius,  while  ambassador  at  Paris,  influenced 
seven  young  men,  law  students  at  Lubeck,  to  go  out  to 
the  East  as  missionaries.  Three  actually  started,  but 
only  one  seems  to  have  carried  out  his  purpose.  Peter 
Heiling  laboured  for  twenty  years  in  Abyssinia,  leaving 
behind  him  a  translation  of  the  Bible  into  Amharic,  but 
accomplishing  little  else  of  permanent  value. 

The  Dutch. — For  a  time  the  work  in  the  East  Indies 
seemed  most  encouraging.  There  were  not  a  few  earnest 
workers,  among  whom  may  be  specially  mentioned  Justus 
Hearnius,  whose  activity  won  for  him  the  hostility  of 
the  Dutch  East  India  Company,  so  that  he  was  compelled 
to  remove  to  Amboyna,  and  who  accomplished  much  in 
the  translation  of  the  Gospels,  the  Creed  and  a  number  of 
hymns.  Java  itself  was  divided  into  districts  and  each 
district  provided  with  a  church  and  school.  Promising 
converts  were  more  fully  educated  and  employed  as 
catechists,  under  the  general  superintendence  of  the 
Dutch  ministers,     From  Java  the  work  extended  to  the 


Early  Protestant  Missions  55 

neighbouring  islands,  to  Amboyna  and  the  Moluccas,  and 
even  to  Formosa.  The  extent  of  the  work  is  seen  in  the 
statement  that  in  1721  there  were  over  100,000  Christians 
in  Java,  while  in  Formosa  the  first  missionary  baptized 
nearly  6,000  adults,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  had 
taught  600  of  the  natives  to  read.  Similarly  the  Dutch 
conquest  of  Ceylon  was  attended  by  the  establishment  of 
missions  there,  which  sought  to  convert  not  only  the 
heathen,  but  the  Roman  Catholics,  the  result  of  the  labours 
of  the  missionaries  of  a  century  earlier.  Here  the  results 
were  numerically  large,  the  number  of  members  con- 
nected with  the  Dutch  Church  in  1722  being  over 
424,000.  The  work  also  extended  to  India,  antedating 
all  other  Protestant  missions  in  that  land.  All  this,  how- 
ever, availed  very  little.  With  the  cession  of  Dutch  in- 
terests to  England,  Dutch  missions  declined  until  they 
had  practically  disappeared.  Similar  results  followed 
the  work  under  the  auspices  of  the  Dutch  West  India 
Company  in  Brazil.  The  reason  is  found  in  the  same 
causes  that  operated  in  the  Roman  Catholic  missions : 
indiscriminate  baptism  without  due  regard  to  the  devel- 
opment of  substantial  Christian  character,  and  the  em- 
phasis placed  upon  the  political  and  temporal  advantage 
of  conversion. 

The  English. — English  colonial  enterprise,  like  the 
Dutch,  Spanish  and  Portuguese^  recognized  the  chris- 
tianization  of  the  natives  in  the  colonies  as  an  important 
duty.  Frobisher  on  his  voyages  had  with  him  a  chaplain 
whose  ambition  was  for  **  saving  souls  and  reforming  in- 
fidels," and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  soon  after  he  became 
interested  in  the  Virginia  colony,  gave  ^100  for  the 
"propagation  of  the  Christian  religion  in  that  settle- 
ment" (1588).     The  East   India  Company  in  its  early 


56  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

days,  sent  chaplains  to  India,  one  of  whose  prime  duties 
was  to  preach  to  the  natives.  The  Pilgrim  and  Puritan 
colonies  in  New  England  emphasized  this  feature  very 
strongly,  as  is  manifest  both  from  the  testimony  of  the 
leaders  and  the  words  of  their  charters.  George  Fox 
wrote  to  ''AH  Friends  everywhere  that  have  Indians  or 
blacks,  to  preach  the  gospel  to  them  and  their  servants." 
The  Long  Parliament,  in  1649,  in  response  to  earnest 
appeals  from  the  colonies  granted  the  first  charter  to  a 
missionary  society. 

New  England  Company. — The  express  purpose  of 
this  company  was  evangelistic  work  among  the  Indians, 
and  there  was  much  good  work  done  by  noble  men. 
The  names  of  John  Eliot,  the  Mayhews,  Roger  Williams, 
and  others  take  rank  among  the  most  devoted  of  mission- 
ary labourers.  Their  labours,  however,  accomplished 
little,  largely  for  two  reasons.  Mission  interests  were 
secondary  to  colonial  interests,  and  whenever  the  two 
clashed,  mission  work  had  to  yield ;  the  great  mass  of 
the  Church  was  not  ready  for  the  movement,  and  the 
workers  stood  practically  alone. 

Von  Welz. — The  wider  information  and  broader 
views  resulting  from  the  colonial  expansion,  was,  how- 
ever, having  its  influence,  and  a  reaction  against  the 
hard  theological  discussions  of  the  sixteenth  century  was 
taking  place.  It  is  singular  that  the  first  general  and 
vigorous  appeal  to  the  Church  at  large,  came  in  the 
middle  of  this  seventeenth  century  from  an  Austrian 
baron,  Von  Welz.  In  1664  he  issued  two  publications 
calling  for  a  special  association  for  the  extension  of  the 
evangelical  religion  and  the  conversion  of  the  heathen. 
He  propounded  three  questions:  (i)  "Is  it  right  that 
we,  evangelical  Christians,  hold  the  gospel  for  ourselves 


Early  Protestant  Missions  57 

alone,  and  do  not  seek  to  spread  it?"  (2)  '*Is  it  right 
that  in  all  places  we  have  so  many  students  of  theology, 
and  do  not  induce  them  to  labour  elsewhere  in  the 
spiritual  vineyard  of  Jesus  Christ?"  (3)  <<Is  it  right 
that  we,  evangelical  Christians,  spend  so  much  on  all 
sorts  of  dress,  delicacies  in  eating  and  drinking,  etc.,  but 
have  hitherto  thought  of  no  means  for  the  spread  of  the 
gospel?"'  The  appeal  and  the  questions  brought  no 
answer.  They  were  followed  by  more  vigorous  words 
and  the  proposition,  doubtless  suggested  by  what  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  had  only  recently  done,  that  a 
college  for  the  propagation  of  the  faith  be  established,  in 
which  students  could  be  instructed  in  Eastern  languages, 
geography,  and  the  ways  and  means  best  adapted  for  the 
conversion  of  unbelieving  nations.  This  brought  a  sharp, 
even  bitter  reply  from  one  of  the  best  men  in  the  Church, 
Ursinus  of  Ratisbon,  claiming  that  the  Greeks  were  re- 
sponsible for  the  Turks,  the  Danes  and  Swedes  for  the 
Greenlanders  and  Lapps,  and  that  it  was  absurd,  even 
wicked,  to  cast  the  pearls  of  the  gospel  before  the  dogs 
of  cannibals,  etc.  Von  Welz,  in  despair,  gave  up  his 
barony,  went  to  Holland,  and  thence  to  Dutch  Guiana, 
resolved  to  do  what  he  could  in  the  line  of  what  he 
considered  duty. 

Pietists. — While,  so  far  as  direct  missionary  work  was 
concerned,  there  was  little  interest  manifest,  influences 
were  at  work  within  the  community  to  arouse  the  Church 
to  a  more  spiritual  life.  The  last  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century  saw  the  beginning  of  the  Pietist  Movement, 
inaugurated  by  Spener  (i  635-1 705)  and  developed  by 
Francke,  listened  to  the  hymns  of  Gerhardt  and  heard 
the  first  strains  of  Bach's  music.  Spener's  protest  against 
wickedness  in  high  places  and  his  insistence  upon  the 


58  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

spiritual  life  called  down  upon  him  much  and  bitter 
opposition,  not  only  in  the  court  at  Dresden  but  in  the 
universities.  It  found  a  lodging,  however,  in  the  heart 
and  mind  of  Francke  (1663-1727)  who  with  a  few 
others  of  like  spirit  founded  the  University  of  Halle,  just 
at  the  close  of  the  century  (1698)  and  gave  a  mighty 
impulse  to  Christian  philanthropy  in  the  formation  of  the 
famous  orphanage.  Thus  were  sown  the  seeds  which 
were  to  bring  forth  fruit  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

Danish  Tamil  Mission. — In  1704  Dr.  Liitkens,  an 
intimate  friend  of  Francke,  who  had  been  in  Berlin  and 
was  afterwards  made  court  chaplain  at  Copenhagen,  rep- 
resented to  King  Frederick  IV  of  Denmark  the  duty  of 
providing  Christian  education  for  the  people  in  the 
Danish  colonies.  The  king  entered  into  the  plan  most 
cordially,  and  two  students  from  the  University  of  Halle 
were  appointed  to  go.  The  first  idea  seems  to  have  been 
to  send  them  to  the  West  Indies.  That  however  failed, 
and  the  Coromandel  Coast  of  India  was  selected.  The 
two  men,  Bartholomew  Ziegenbalg  and  Henry  Plutschau, 
sailed  in  1705  for  Tranquebar,  and  commenced  their 
work  at  once,  learning  the  Tamil  language,  and  not  only 
preaching,  but  preparing  a  version  of  the  Bible.  Al- 
though having  the  cordial  support  of  the  king  and  pro- 
vided by  him  with  money,  they  met  increasing  oppo- 
sition from  the  Danish  local  authorities  and  the  foreign 
residents.  On  the  other  hand,  Some  support  came  from 
the  two  English  societies  for  the  Promoting  of  Christian 
Knowledge  and  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  which 
had  been  recently  formed  for  colonial  rather  than  for 
foreign  mission  work.  The  fact  that  most  of  the  mis- 
sionaries connected  with  this  enterprise  came  from  Halle, 
and  naturally  looked  to  Halle  for  general  guidance  and 


Early  Protestant  Missions  59 

counsel,  while  the  support  came  from  Denmark,  led  to  the 
mission's  being  known  as  the  Danish-Halle  or  Danish- 
Hallsk  Mission.  It  continued  through  the  greater  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century;  but  the  dominant  German 
element  was  distasteful  to  the  Danes,  and  after  the  death, 
in  1798,  of  Schwartz — next  to  Ziegenbalg  the  best  known 
of  the  missionaries — the  Danish  support  fell  off.  In  1825 
the  king  declined  to  send  any  more  money,  and  in 
1847  the  entire  mission  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
Leipsic  Society. 

Advance. — The  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century 
showed  a  marked  advance  in  every  respect.  Partly 
under  the  influence  of  the  Pietists  of  Germany,  but  also 
under  the  power  of  a  reaction  against  the  formalism  and 
hard,  dry  theology  of  the  preceding  century,  there  sprang 
up  throughout  England,  Scotland  and  America,  a  most 
earnest  yearning  for  a  more  intense  spiritual  life.  There 
is  nothing  more  noticeable  in  the  history  of  religious  life 
and  activity  than  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tide.  The 
Spirit  of  God  has  never  been  without  His  witnesses. 
No  matter  how  deep  the  spiritual  life  may  seem  to  be 
buried,  there  are  always  individuals  whose  personal  testi- 
mony has  gathered  force  until  it  has  broken  through  the 
calm  surface,  and  reach'^d  a  higher  stage.  The  crest  of 
the  wave  has  generally  broken  and  for  the  moment  has 
seemed  to  go  to  pieces,  but  the  next  wave  has  gone 
farther  up  the  shore.  One  lesson  learned  has  not  been 
lost  sight  of  entirely  and  has  furnished  the  basis  for 
learning  another.  Luther,  Calvin,  Knox,  taught  men  to 
think  for  themselves,  and  to  think  deeply,  on  the  greatest 
problems  of  human  life.  Men  had  also  to  learn  that 
thinking  is  not  necessarily  living,  that  spiritual  life  is  not 
always  identified  with  intellectual  life.    The  same  human 


1 


6o  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

need,  the  same  yearning  of  soul,  that  produced  the  re- 
formers of  the  sixteenth  century,  inspired  in  this  eighteenth 
century,  Francke,  Zinzendorf,  Wesley,  Watts,  Jonathan 
Edwards,  David  Brainerd  and  those  who  with  them 
started  the  influences  that  found  their  legitimate  result 
in  the  nineteenth  century.  Scarcely  less  noticeable  than 
their  conception  of  the  essential  elements  of  the  spiritual 
life  in  themselves,  is  their  application  of  it  to  their  rela- 
tions with  others. 
i  Moravians. — This  constantly  received  new  illustra- 
I  tions,  some  encouraging,  some  showing  very  clearly  that 
the  ideal  had  not  yet  been  reached.  The  "Tamil  Mis- 
sion" in  India,  followed  by  the  sending  of  Thomas  von 
Westen  to  Lapland  (1714)  by  the  Copenhagen  College 
and  of  Hans  Egede  to  Greenland  (1721)  were  not  very 
successful  attempts.  Just  then  came  a  movement  truly 
considered  the  great  mission  event  of  the  century,  the 
founding  or  rehabilitation  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum,  better 
known  as  the  Moravian  Church.  The  story  of  the  for- 
mation of  this  community  in  1467,  when  the  followers  of 
Huss,  certain  Waldenses  and  Moravians,  united  as  the 
Unitas  Fratrum ;  of  their  subsequent  bitter  experiences, 
and  at  last  of  their  finding  a  home  on  the  estates  of 
Count  Zinzendorf  in  Saxony,  does  not  belong  to  this 
place,  although  it  must  be  read  in  order  to  a  complete 
understanding  of  the  subsequent  history.  More  imme- 
diately essential  is  the  story  of  the  life  of  Zinzendorf 
himself,  for  it  binds  the  Halle  movement  under  Spener 
and  Francke  with  the  later  developments  of  mission 
work.  The  marvel  of  modern  readers  and  observers  of 
missions  has  been  that  a  community  in  itself  so  weak  in 
numbers,  wealth,  and  education  should  have  accom- 
plished such  a  work.     Tlie  explanation  is  doubtless  to  be 


Early  Protestant  Missions  6l 

found  in  great  measure  in  the  impulse  given  by  this 
remarkable  man,  who  put  the  whole  result  of  training  in 
the  schools,  in  social,  civil,  and  political  life,  at  the 
service  of  those  whose  one  idea  was  the  growth  of 
spiritual  life,  until  he  became  a  director  and  guide  of  the 
most  self-denying  service'  missions  have  known.  There 
have  been  many  missionaries  as  faithful,  devoted,  self- 
denyingj  heroic,  as  any  that  have  represented  the  Mora- 
vians on  the  foreign  field.  There  have  been  pioneers  as 
bold,  as  persistent.  There  have  been,  perhaps,  enter- 
prises more  wisely  planned.  But  probably  no  com- 
munity in  the  history  of  the  Church  has  set  itself  about 
the  work  of  converting  the  world  with  so  little  thought 
of  results,  so  completely  under  the  bond  of  duty.  That 
a  field  was  a  hard  one  and  likely  to  show  little  reward 
has  been  in  itself,  apparently,  the  best  claim  upon  their 
labour.  Their  methods  have  been  criticised  as  not 
broad  enough  in  their  scope,  but  their  individual  devo- 
tion has  won  the  praise  of  all  who  have  known  of  their 
work,  and  no  one  can  study  the  life  of  their  great  leader 
without  seeing  how  his  spirit  has  dominated  all. 

Development. — The  immediate  occasion  for  the  for- 
eign work  of  the  Moravians  was  a  visit  of  Count  Zinzen- 
dorf  to  Copenhagen  in  1731,  nine  years  after  the  recep- 
tion of  the  Moravian  colony  at  his  estate  in  Berthelsdorf, 
to  represent  the  Saxon  court  at  the  coronation  of  Chris- 
tian VI,  successor  to  Frederick  IV.  There  he  saw  two 
Eskimos  who  had  been  baptized  by  Hans  Egede,  and 
was  saddened  by  the  news  that  the  mission  to  Greenland 
must  be  given  up.  His  attendants  also  met  a  negro, 
Anthony,  who  told  of  the  sufferings  of  the  slaves  in  the 
Danish  West  Indies.  The  story  aroused  their  sympathy, 
and  when  repeated  at  Herrnhut,  stirred  two  men,  Dober, 


62  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

a  potter,  and  Nitschman,  a  carpenter,  to  a  resolve  to  go 
to  St.  Thomas  and  teach  them  of  the  gospel.  With 
barely  money  enough  to  reach  Copenhagen,  they  pressed 
on,  bound  to  get  through  in  some  way.  The  count  took 
them  in  his  carriage  to  Bautzen,  and  gave  each  a  small 
sum  of  money,  but  from  there  they  worked  their  own  way. 
This  was  in  August,  1732.  In  January,  1733,  two  others 
started  for  Greenland,  and  in  the  same  year  a  large  party 
went  to  St.  Croix  in  the  West  Indies.  Surinam,  Dutch 
Guiana,  was  occupied  in  1735,  and  two  years  later  South 
Africa  was  entered.  Then  came  the  work  among  the 
North  American  Indians,  especially  in  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania,  and  later  in  Labrador.  In  all  Zinzendorf 
himself  was  so  interested  that  he  made  several  visits,  es- 
pecially to  the  West  Indies  and  Pennsylvania,  before  his 
death.  From  1770  to  1847  there  was  little  advance 
made,  but  then  a  new  impulse  was  given  and  Central 
America,  Australia,  Tibet,  Alaska  were  entered  while 
new  work  was  begun  in  Africa. 

Extent. — A  survey  of  the  fields  entered  by  the  Mora- 
vians shows  that  there  is  scarcely  a  country  where  they 
have  not  made  an  attempt  at  least  to  gain  a  foothold. 
Their  successful  missions  have  been  chiefly  in  the  West. 
Indies,  Central  America,  north  coast  of  South  America, 
the  Indians  of  the  United  States  and  Alaska,  and  Lab- 
rador on  this  continent ;  but  they  have  work  also  in 
South  Africa  and  Australia,  and  their  central  Asian  mis- 
sion on  the  borders  of  Tibet  holds  its  own  despite  dis- 
couragements. They  have  made  unsuccessful  attempts, 
sometimes  covering  a  short  period  of  years,  sometimes 
repeated  at  brief  intervals,  in  Ceylon,  Persia,  China, 
Algiers,  Abyssinia,  the  Guinea  coast  of  Africa,  the  East 
Indies,  on  the  Russian  shore  of  the  Arctic  Ocean,  and 


Early  Protestant  Missions  63 

among  the  Kalmucks  of  Siberia.  In  all  this  work  the 
entire  Church  or  community  has  always  been  most  deeply 
interested.  With  the  extension  of  its  membership  into 
other  lands  the  missionary  element  has  continued  to 
hold  a  prominent  place.  It  has  also  attracted  the 
interest  and  support  of  ot'hers,  and  not  ?l  small  part  of 
the  income  of  the  society  comes  from  England 
through  the  London  Association  in  Aid  of  Moravian 
Missions,  while  the  American  provinces  contribute  their 
share. 

The  Wesleys. — Meanwhile  the  evangelistic  move- 
ment was  gaining  force  in  England  and  Scotland.  The 
Oxford  Club,  of  which  the  Wesleys  and  Whitefield  were 
such  influential  members,  and  which  laid  the  foundations 
of  Methodism  and  contributed  so  much  to  the  spiritual 
regeneration  of  England,  was  started  in  1729.  Six  years 
later  the  Wesleys  went  with  General  Oglethorpe  to 
Georgia,  but  found  their  work  limited  chiefly  to  the  set- 
tlers, and  returned  somewhat  dissatisfied  with  the  oppor- 
tunities for  preaching  and  open  to  influences  for  a  still 
more  spiritual  life.  On  their  way  out  they  had  come  in 
contact  with  a  band  of  Moravians,  and  on  their  re- 
turn came  under  the  influence  of  the  Moravian  Bohler. 
In  1738  John  Wesley  visited  Herrnhut,  and  was  very 
much  impressed  with  what  he  saw  and  heard ;  and  in 
the  subsequent  work  of  the  two  brothers  and  their  as- 
sociate Whitefield,  the  result  of  the  influence  of  Zinzen- 
dorf  and  his  teacher  Francke  was  very  manifest.  With 
them,  too,  the  effect  was  seen  in  an  increasing  desire  for 
evangelization,  but  for  some  reason  the  evangelization  did 
not  take  as  wide  a  scope.  It  was  still  the  colonial  or 
home  idea  that  dominated,  not  the  conception  of  a  world 
to  be  converted. 


64  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Prayer. — The  general  trend  of  the  newer  thought  was 
indicated  by  the  publication  by  Robert  Miller  of  Paisley, 
of  a  "History  of  the  Propagation  of  Christianity,  and 
the  Overthrow  of  Paganism,"  in  which  prayer  was  pre- 
sented as  the  first  of  nine  means  for  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen  world.  A  few  years  later  came  the  Secession  in 
Scotland,  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  spiritual 
freedom  of  the  Church,  and  in  1744  a  general  concert  of 
prayer  was  called  by  a  number  of  ministers,  resulting  in 
a  memorial  which  was  sent  to  America,  inviting  all  Chris- 
tians there  to  "promote  more  abundant  application  to  a 
duty  that  is  perpetually  binding — prayer  that  our  God's 
kingdoni  may  come."  It  met  with  a  hearty  welcome 
from  Jonathan  Edwards,  already  deeply  interested  in  the 
work  of  David  Brainerd,  and  a  sermon  by  him  was 
among  the  influences  that  stirred  William  Carey  in  his 
cobbler's  shop.  The  long  period  of  preparation  was 
closing.  The  Christian  Church  was  feeling  the  first 
throbs  of  the  new  life  that  was  to  stir  it  to  an  activity  un- 
paralleled since  the  first  years  when  the  disciples,  in  the 
shadow  of  their  sorrow,  rather  in  the  flush  of  their  new 
hope,  went  everywhere  preaching  the  Word. 

Before  we  take  up  the  record  of  the  next  period,  it  will 
be  helpful  to  review  the  situation,  particularly  as  it  af- 
fected the  mission  interest. 

Summary. — The  world  had  been  discovered.  Not 
merely  had  a  new  continent  been  brought  to  light,  but 
men  had  learned  much  about  the  old.  Colonization 
schemes  and  commercial  ventures  had  both  planted  Chris- 
tian communities  in  many  of  these  lands,  and  had  brought 
their  products  and  their  people  to  Europe,  so  that  much 
that  had  hitherto  been  vague  and  shadowy  came  to 
assume    definite   shape.     Not    less   really,   and    scarcely 


Early  Protestant  Missions  65 

more  intentionally,  notwithstanding  their  avowals,  the 
great  East  India  Companies,  Dutch  and  British,  and  their 
compeers  of  lesser  note  in  America,  had  paved  the  way 
for  the  missionary  by  making  travel  to,  and  residence  in, 
those  lands  possible  and  measurably  safe. 

Not  merely  was  the  geographical  kno.wledge  increased, 
but  men  were  learning  how  to  use  the  forces  of  nature. 
It  was  the  age  of  the  invention  of  printing,  the  discov- 
eries of  Copernicus  and  Galileo.  Physical  science  was 
becoming  a  power.  In  the  intellectual  world  the  Renais- 
sance had  freed  men's  minds  from  the  thraldom  of 
mediaeval  scholasticism,  and  brought  them  in  touch  with 
other  than  the  traditional  methods  of  thought.  It  was 
the  time  of  Shakespeare  and  Milton,  of  Newton,  Leibnitz, 
Locke,  Spinoza.  The  list  even  is  too  long  to  be  given 
here.  Everywhere  it  was  the  awakening  to  life.  Most 
notable  of  all  was  the  preparation  in  the  religious  world. 


THE  INAUGURATION  OF  THE  MODERN  MIS- 
SIONARY MOVEMENT 

IT  is  no  arbitrary  decision  which  makes  the  era  of 
Modern  Missions  commence  with  Carey  rather  than 
with  the  founding  of  the  Moravian  Church,  the  la- 
bours of  Eliot  and  Brainerd,  or  the  Tamil  Mission  of 
Ziegenbalg.  The  gathering  at  Kettering  marks  the  be- 
ginning of  the  associate  organization,  which  has  been  at 
the  basis  of  the  most  successful  missionary  enterprises. 
Individual  responsibility  and  mutual  action  took  the  place 
of  the  pure  individualism  of  the  apostolic  and  mediaeval 
ages,  the  ecclesiastical  order  of  Roman  Catholicism,  and 
the  State  missions  of  the  early  Protestant  era.  As  has 
been  seen.  Apostolic  and  early  Christian  missions  were 
without  any  general  plan  or  superintendence.  Men 
preached  by  word  and  life,  wherever  they  happened  to 
be  or  to  go,  the  message  of  salvation  in  Christ.  Through 
the  Middle  Ages  it  was  still  chiefly  a  personal  work,  even 
in  the  communities  established  in  connection  with  the 
monasteries. 

As  the  religious  orders  arose,  the  individual  dropped 
out  as  an  initiative  force  ;  even  the  great  missionaries  of 
the  Jesuits  were  agents  of  the  order,  whose  aim  was  to  build 
up  a  Roman  Catholic  Church.  The  early  Protestants  re- 
jected ecclesiastical  bonds  but  could  not  free  themselves 
from  connection  with  the  State.  The  Tamil  Mission  in 
India  owed  its  inception  and  its  support  to  the  King  of 

66 


The  Modem  Missionary  Movement      67 

Denmark.  The  New  England  Company  had  a  govern- 
ment charter.  The  Dutch  missions  were  colonial  enter- 
prises. Even  with  the  Moravians,  at  least  in  the  begin- 
ning, this  element  was  present. 

Now  for  the  first  time  a  man  convinced  of  his  own  call 
to  the  mission  field,  went  forth  as  the  representative  of 
other  men,  each  feeling  their  personal  responsibility  and 
relation  to  his  work.  It  is  this  sense  of  mutual, 
individual  responsibility  for  the  establishing  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  that  marks  modern  missions  in  distinction 
from  those  of  other  ages.  To  understand  it,,  as  well  as 
the  varied  forms  taken  by  succeeding  organizations,  a 
brief  survey  of  the  religious  situation  at  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century  will  be  helpful. 

Denominationalism. — The  first,  or  at  least  the  most 
prominent  result  of  the  enfranchisement  of  the  individual, 
was  the  development  of  divergent,  sometimes  of  rival, 
forms  of  religious  thought  and  church  life.  Luther,  the 
German,  was  an  intensely  practical  man,  and  his  theology 
centered  in  man  and  his  relation  to  God.  Calvin,  the 
Frenchman,  was  an  idealist,  and  his  whole  system  found 
its  basis  in  the  sovereignty  of  God  over  man.  The 
greater  part  of  the  German  churches  followed  Luther  and 
became  Lutheran,  '^he  Swiss,  French,  Dutch  and 
English  churches,  Calvinistic,  adopted  the  name  Re- 
formed. As  Melanchthon,  the  German,  cast  in  his  lot 
with  Calvin,  the  German  Palatinate  and  Hungary 
became  Reformed,  but  the  new  element  caused  another 
divergence.  France,  after  the  massacre  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew, had  practically  dropped  out,  and  the  Con- 
tinental Reformed  churches  followed  Melanchthon  in 
emphasizing  the  redemption  of  man  through  Christ. 
Under    the    lead    of   Knox,    the   Scotch   and   English 


68  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

churches  developed  a  more  rigid  type  of  Calvinism,  and 
adopted  the  name  Presbyterian,  following  more  fully  the 
ecclesiastical  polity  of  Calvin.  Meanwhile  Arminius 
had  appeared  with  his  conception  of  the  freedom  of  man 
as  practically  independent  of  God  in  his  choice  of  good 
or  evil.  All,  Lutherans,  Calvinists,  Arminians,  held  to 
the  conception  of  the  Church  as  an  organized  body,  more 
or  less  closely  allied  to  the  State,  and  with  the  ministry 
as  a  distinct  class,  with  special  rights  and  privileges. 

The  translation  of  the  Bible  into  English  by  Wyclif, 
into  German  by  Luther,  into  French  by  Ostervald, 
under  Calvin's  general  direction,  had  appealed  to  the 
laity,  and  there  arose  a  strong  non-clerical,  if  not  anti- 
clerical influence.  This  manifested  itself  particularly  in 
England,  and  in  the  conflict  between  Anglicanism  and 
Presbyterianism  for  the  leadership  of  the  Reformed 
element,  there  arose  a  company  of  people,  called 
variously  Separatists,  Brownists,  etc.  At  the  same  time 
the  various  communities  known  during  the  Middle  Ages 
as  Albigenses,  Vaudois,  etc.,  came  into  public  view  as 
Baptists,  and  were  noted  generally  for  their  rigid  Cal- 
vinism and  intense  independence.  The  Separatists 
supplied  the  Pilgrim  colony  at  Plymouth,  while  those 
who  remained  in  England,  somewhat  relieved  of  their 
austerities,  became  Independents  ;  the  Presbyterians  be- 
came Puritans ;  in  the  Anglican  Church  the  same  lay 
influences  became  a  potent  factor  in  the  development  of 
the  so-called  Evangelical  Church  party  ;  the  Arminians, 
under  Wesley's  lead  had  become  Methodists,  while  the 
Baptists  were  forging  to  the  front  in  their  emphasis  on 
believers'    baptism,  and  individual  responsibility. 

The   conception,    too,    of  the   condition  of  the  non- 
Christian,  or    heathen,  world  had  changed.     The  sym- 


The  Modern  Missionary  Movement       69 

pathy  for  the  sad  estate  of  those  without  the  gospel, 
which  had  been  the  dominant  feeling  of  Zinzendorf, 
Ziegenbalg,  and  Eliot,  gave  place  to  a  profound  con- 
viction of  the  utter  hopelessness  and  terrible  misery  of 
their  condition.  With  the  development  of  the  worth  of  > 
the  individual  Christian,  came  also  a  new  estimate  of  the 
value  of  the  individual  heathen,  soul.  To  "  snatch  even 
one  brand  from  the  burning,"  came  to  be  considered 
worth  all  that  it  might  cost.  Calvinism,  emphasizing  the 
sovereignty  of  God,  emphasized  also  His  power  and  His 
commandments. 

Carey. — As  John  Huss  had  been  the  mouthpiece  of  the 
religious  revolt  of  his  time  and  Luther  of  that  of  his ;  1 
as  Zinzendorf  and  Brainerd  had  transmuted  the  awakened 
Christian  sentiment  into  action,  so  the  intense  theology 
of  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  found  its  fitting  ex- 
pression in  Carey.  So  much  emphasis  has  been  placed 
upon  the  cobbling  of  the  teacher  and  preacher  that  few 
realize  the  intellectual  powers  and  indomitable  will  of 
the  student  that  made  him  master  of  Latin,  Greek, 
French,  Dutch  and  Hebrew;  the  large  sympathy  and 
careful  observation  that  made  him  a  botanist  and  a 
zoologist ;  the  wide  reading  that  covered  the  map  of  the 
world,  as  it  hung  before  him  in  his  stall,  with  facts  and 
figures  in  regard  to  every  section  of  the  globe;  the 
sturdy  independence  that  made  him  choose  the  then  in- 
conspicuous Bapdst  company  instead  of  the  National 
Church  in  which  he  was  brought  up.  But  above  all 
these,  or  rather  dominating  and  using  all  these,  was  his 
conviction  that  there  was  a  greater  work  for  the  Church 
to  do,  than  to  sit  down  and  nurse  itself  into  a  higher  life. 
It  was  in  1792  that  he  published  his  ^''Enquiry  info  the 
Obligations  of  Christians  to  use  Means  for  the  Conver- 


yO  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

sion  of  the  Heathens  ;  in  which  the  Religious  State  of 
the  Different  Nations  of  the  World,  the  Successor  Former 
Undertakings,  and  the  Practicability  of  Further  Under- 
takings are  considered."  As  Dr.  Smith  has  said,  '  **  it 
marks  a  distinct  point  of  departure  in  the  history  of 
Christianity."  It  laid  the  foundations  of  Modern  Missions 
in  accurate  information,  careful  consideration,  wise  use 
of  means,  as  well  as  in  the  obligation  of  Christian  duty. 

Baptist  Society. — Then  came,  on  May  30,  the  fa- 
mous sermon  at  Nottingham  following  which  Carey 
turned  beseechingly  to  Andrew  Fuller,  "And  are  you, 
after  all,  going  to  do  nothing?"  Still  self-distrustful  he 
wanted  the  well-known  leaders  to  lead.  By  October  he 
felt  that  it  was  for  him  to  go,  and  with  the  motto  of  his 
sermons,  *'  Expect  great  things  from  God,  attempt  great 
things  for  God,"  twelve  Baptist  ministers  in  session  at 
Kettering  entered  into  covenant,  and  organized  the  Par- 
ticular (Calvinistic)  Baptist  Society  for  Propagating  the 
Gospel  among  the  Heathen.  To  meet  the  necessary  ex- 
pense they  opened  a  subscription,  giving  themselves  jQi^ 
2s.  6d.  ($65.52).  The  succeeding  months  were  contin- 
uous tests  of  endurance  and  faith,  but  by  the  following 
June,  Carey  was  on  his  way  to  India.  Once  landed  he 
sent  word  to  those  "holding  the  ropes,"  that  he  should 
need  no  more  money  from  them  but  that  they  should 
send  others  elsewhere. 

The  beginning  once  made,  all  England  as  well  as 
Scotland,  felt  in  varying  proportion  the  spiritual  revival, 
and  many  communities  were  ready  to  respond  to  the  first 
appeal.  This  came  in  the  form  of  some  letters  from 
Carey  to  his  supporters  in  England.  One  of  these.  Dr. 
Ryland,  of  Bristol,  invited  two  Presbyterian  friends,  one 
•  ••  Short  History  of  Missions." 


The  Modern  Missionary  Movement      7 1 

of  them  the  Rev.  David  Bogue,  of  Gosport,  to  hear 
these  letters  read.  They,  in  turn,  called  on  another 
prominent  minister ;  and  in  September,  1794,  there  ap- 
peared an  address  to  "  professors  of  the  gospel,"  calling 
for  the  support  by  non-Baptists  of  "at  least  twenty  or 
thirty  missionaries  among  the  heathen."  In  November 
a  formal  meeting  of  evangelical  ministers  of  all  denomi- 
nations was  held,  resulting,  in  January,  1795,  in  a  circu- 
lar letter  to  churches,  asking  their  consideration  of  the 
question  and  the  appointment  of  delegates  to  a  meeting 
in  the  fall.  The  interest  was  increased  by  an  article  by 
a  well-known  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  the 
Rev.  T.  H.  Haweis,  on  the  openings  for  mission  work 
in  the  South  Seas,  and  when  the  time  came  for  the  meet- 
ing in  September  everything  was  ready. 

London  Missionary  Society. — On  September  21, 
1795,  at  the  Castle  and  Falcon  in  London,  the  meetings 
commenced  which  culminated  in  the  formation  of  the 
London  Missionary  Society.  As  Independent  (Congre- 
gational), Presbyterian,  Wesleyan,  and  Episcopal  minis- 
ters had  joined  in  the  preliminary  steps,  it  was  decided  to 
make  the  basis  of  the  society  very  broad,  emphasizing  no 
one  form  of  church  government,  but  leaving  the  selection  of 
that  to  the  converts  on  the  field.  The  enthusiasm  resulting 
from  these  meetings  was  very  great  and  spread  over  Eng- 
land and  Scotland.  Subscriptions  large  and  small  came 
in,  until  in  October  they  had  three  thousand  pounds, 
more  than  double  that  sum  by  January,  1796,  and  in 
June  fully  ten  thousand  pounds.  Volunteers  for  mission- 
ary service  also  offered,  and  in  August  the  ship  Z>//^, 
with  twenty-nine  missionaries,  sailed  for  Tahiti.  Scarcely 
was  the  expedition  out  of  sight  of  the  shores  of  England 
when  plans  were  formed  for  still  further  extension  of  the 


72  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

work.  Next  to  the  South  Seas,  Africa,  even  in  that  time, 
seemed  to  show  the  greatest  need,  and  societies  formed 
at  Glasgow  and  Edinburgh  in  the  spring  of  1796,  turned 
their  attention  in  that  direction,  the  London  Society 
joining  with  them  in  sending  an  expedition  to  Sierra 
Leone. 

While  active  initiative  was  confined  for  a  time  to  those 
branches  of  the  Protestant  Church  in  which  the  individual, 
as  distinct  from  the  ecclesiastical  element,  had  been 
developed,  there  had  grown  up  in  the  Church  of  England 
a  strong  movement  in  the  same  direction.  Not  to  be  be- 
hind Continental  States,  there  had  been  formed  in  1698 
the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Christian  Knowledge 
(S.  P.  C.  K.)  and  three  years  later  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  (S.  P.  G.)  was  chartered  by 
William  III  for  ''  Promoting  Christian  Religion  in  our 
Foreign  Plantations."  Its  activities,  however,  beyond 
supplying  chaplains  for  English  colonists,  had  been  very 
small,  and  by  no  means  satisfied  the  group  of  men  who 
in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  came  to  the  front. 
The  influence  of  the  Wesleys  was  not  small  within  the 
bounds  of  their  church,  as  well  as  in  the  community  that 
they  founded,  and  the  evangelical  revival  of  the  time 
was  felt  by  all  classes.  As  in  the  established  churches 
on  the  Continent,  the  movement  found  its  expression  first 
in  philanthropy,  as  Wilberforce  (1786)  dedicated  himself 
to  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade,  and  Granville  Sharp 
planned  to  settle  the  liberated  slaves  in  Sierra  Leone. 
Three  years  previously  the  Eclectic  Society  had  been 
founded  by  a  few  evangelical  clergy  and  laymen,  for 
mutual  improvement,  and  they  too  began  to  consider 
foreign  missions.  At  intervals  the  subject  was  taken  up, 
but  no  great  advance  was  made,  until  the  organization  of 


The  Modern  Missionary  Movement      73 

the  Baptist  and  London  Missionary  Societies  brought  the 
matter  to  the  front.  In  1793  "^^^^  Evangelical  Magazine 
was  founded  under  the  editorship  of  an  Episcopal  clergy- 
man, while  the  sermons  of  Rev.  T.  H.  Haweis,  also  of 
the  National  Church,  did  much  to  prepare  the  way  for 
the  London  Society,  in  the  formation  of  which  they  and 
others  of  that  Church  had  a  share.  .      ' 

Church  Missionary  Society. — For  a  time  there 
was  hope  that  the  already  established  societies  might  be 
utilized.  This,  however,  was  impossible,  and  early  in 
1799,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Eclectic  Society,  Rev.  John 
Venn  laid  down  the  principles  which  were  the  basis  of 
the  Church  Missionary  Society.  '*  It  is  the  right  of 
Christian  men,  who  sympathize  with  one  another,  to 
combine  for  a  common  object."  "Spiritual  work  must 
be  done  by  spiritual  men."  "The  mission  must  be 
founded  on  the  Church  principle,  but  not  the  High- 
Church  principle."  "If  clergymen  cannot  be  found, 
send  laymen." 

In  April  of  that  year,  at  the  Castle  and  Falcon,  also 
the  birthplace  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  there 
was  organized  the  "  Society  for  Missions  to  Africa  and  the 
East,"  the  name  being  later  changed  to  "Church  Mis- 
sionary Society  for  Africa  and  the  East."  The  evan- 
gelical and  broadly  liberal  spirit  of  Wilberforce,  Scott 
the  commentator,  and  Henry  Venn  was  manifest  in  the 
declaration  of  its  purpose  to  maintain  cordial  relations 
with  other  societies  engaged  in  the  same  work  of  mis- 
sions. While  loyal  to  its  Church,  it  received  at  first 
little  support  from  the  Episcopal  authorities,  and  although 
this  coolness  ceased,  and  now  all  the  dignitaries  are  in- 
terested in  its  welfare,  it  still  had  to  meet  much  opposi- 
tion,  especially  from  the  High-Church  element,   repre- 


74  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

senled  so  largely  among  the  colonial  bishops.  They, 
however,  could  not  resist  the  influences  that  were  abroad, 
and  in  1826  secured  a  change  in  the  policy  of  the  old 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  and  made 
that  an  aggressive  missionary  society. 

It  was  not  until  1802  that  the  first  missionaries  were 
sent  to  West  Africa  and  these  were  German  students 
from  Berlin.  Henry  Martyn  applied  in  that  year  for 
appointment  to  India,  but  under  the  rule  of  the  East 
India  Company  this  could  not  be,  and  he  accepted  a 
chaplaincy,  resolved  in  some  way  to  enter  upon  the 
work.  Meanwhile  the  members  of  the  Society  were 
bringing  every  effort  to  bear  upon  the  East  India  Com- 
pany and  by  18 13  the  conditions  were  changed  so  that 
work  in  that  Empire  received  a  great  impulse.  It  was  a 
species  of  home  department  work,  not  less  valuable  than 
the  work  in  the  field. 

Next  to  enter  the  line  of  missionary  enterprise  was  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  founded  in  1804,  and 
in  1814  the  Wesleyans,  who  had  left  most  of  their  mis- 
sionary enterprise  to  the  initiative  of  Dr.  Thomas  Coke, 
formed  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society.  Dr.  Coke's 
missionary  work  commenced  in  1 786  in  the  West  Indies, 
and  it  received  some  support  from  the  Conference,  but 
the  Church  as  a  body  did  not  take  it  up  until  his  death 
made  reorganization  imperative. 

About  the  same  time  there  arose  in  Scotland  a  revival 
of  interest  under  the  influence  of  Dr.  Inglis,  and  a  few 
years  later  the  Glasgow  and  Edinburgh  Societies  reorgan- 
ized and  Dr.  Duff,  in  a  sense,  did  for  Scotland  what 
Carey  had  done  for  England. 

America. — It  was  to  be  expected  that  the  movement 
in   England    should     find    its   counterpart   in    America. 


The  Modem  Missionary  Movement      75 

There,  if  possible  more  than  in  England,  the  sense  of 
individual  responsibility  had  been  developed  by  the  con- 
ditions of  life,  while  under  the  stern  doctrine  of  Ed- 
wards and  his  associates,  and  the  cyclonic  preaching  of 
Whitefield,  the  more  rigid  forms  of  Calvinism  held  sway. 

The  sailing  of  Carey  and  the  formation  of  the  London  \ 
Missionary  Society  aroused  great  interest,    and  in  1796  \ 
the  New  York  Missionary  Society  was  formed,   chiefly  | 
by   Presbyterians,   although  the  Baptist    and  Reformed   j 
Dutch  Churches  were  represented.     This  turned  its  at- 
tention to  the  Indians,  collected  funds,  and  employed  a 
number  of  missionaries.     The  next  year  (1797)  another, 
called  the  Northern  Missionary  Society,  was  formed   for 
much  the  same  work.     These  were  followed  by  others  in 
New  England,  two  of  which  introduced  into  their  con- 
stitutions the   idea  of  entering   more   remote   countries, 
should  opportunity  offer.     In  1797  copies  of  the  sermons 
preached  by  Dr.  Haweis  and  others  in  connection  with 
the  founding   of  the  London  Missionary  Society  were 
brought  over  to  the  Rev.  Alexander  McLean,  of  Bristol, 
Me.     They  were  reprinted  and  distributed  widely,  reach- 
ing, among  others,   the  Rev.   Samuel  Worcester,  aft;er- 
wards  one  of  the  founders  of  the  American  Board.    iThe! 
first  effect  of  this  awakened  interest  was  seen  in  five  New  j 
England   societies,  in   several    missionary  magazines,  in 
the  collection  of  funds  to  assist  the  enterprises  started  in 
England,  and   in  the  foundation,  in  1806,  of  Andover 
Seminary,  with  the  specific  object  in  view  of  furnishing  \ 
preachers    for    mission    work.       In    that   year   Robert  I 
Ralston,   for   himself  and  others   in  Philadelphia,    sent 
i^3>357  to  the  Serampore  Mission  in  India,  and  this  was 
raised  by  others  to  the  sum  of  $6,000  in  the  following 
year.     At  this  time  the  movement  was  general  in  all  the 


76  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

denominations,  but  directed  still  cliiefly  to  tlie  needs  of 
the  Indians.  As  in  Europe  and  in  England,  the  element 
of  individual  enthusiasm  and  devotion  was  needed  to 
start  the  great  work  of  meeting  the  distinctively  foreign 
need. 

The  American  Board. — That  impulse  was  fur- 
nished by  a  student  of  Williams  College,  Massachusetts, 
named  Samuel  J.  Mills.  The  story  of  his  consecration 
to  the  cause  of  missions  by  his  mother,  and  of  his  grow- 
ing interest  in  the  work,  runs  parallel  with  the  lives  of 
Carey  and  Zinzendorf  Entering  Williams  College  in 
1 80 5,  just  at  the  time  when  the  interest  in  Carey  was  at 
its  height,  he  spent  much  thought  upon  the  subject,  and 
found  several  congenial  companions,  especially  Gordon 
Hall  and  James  Richards.  The  haystack  meeting, 
where  these  formed  themselves  into  a  mission  band,  is 
one  of  the  landmarks  in  the  history  of  missions.  From 
I  Williams  the  three  went  to  Andover  Seminary  (1809), 
where  they  were  joined  by  others,  including  Nott,  Rice, 
Newell  and  Judson.  They  still  pressed  the  topic  of  mis- 
sions and  sought  the  help  and  advice  of  a  number  of 
prominent  ministers,   including  the  faculty  of  the   sem- 

Iinary.  The  result  Avas  that  at  the  meeting  of  the  Gen- 
.eral  Association  of  Congregational  Churches  in  Brad- 
ford, Mass.,  in  the  spring  of  1810,  the  subject  of  organ- 
izing a  society  was  taken  up,  and  resulted,  June  29th,  in 
the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions. Dr.  Worcester,  the  first  secretary,  prepared  an  ad- 
dress to  the  churches,  and  every  effort  was  made  to 
arouse  interest  in  the  four  men  ready  to  start./  It  seemed 
tioubtful,  however,  whether  the  necessary  funds  could  be 
^ecured,  and  in  January,  181 1,  Judson  went  to  England 
ko  confer   with  the  London  Missionary  Society  as  to  the 


The  Modern  Missionary  Movement      77 

advisability  of  the  American  churches  cooperating  with 
it.  That  society,  however,  felt  that  it  was  best  for  them 
to  stand  alone,  and  he  returned. 

The  new  society  included  among  its  supporters  not 
only  Congregational,  but  Presbyterian  and  Reformed 
churches,  while  not  a  few  Baptists  were, cordially  inter- 
ested. The  change  of  views  on  immersion  by  Judson 
and  Rice  occasioned  the  forming  of  the  American  Baptist 
Missionary  Union  in  18 14.  The  others  continued  to 
work  through  the  American  Board  for  some  years. 

Europe. — The  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  in 
Europe  a  barren  period  for  missions.  The  Danish-Halle 
Mission  dwindled  and  nearly  collapsed,  and  even  the 
Moravians  did  little  more  than  hold  their  own.  As  al- 
ways, however,  there  was  a  leaven  of  interest.  In  1780, 
in  the  University  of  Basel,  really  more  German  than 
Swiss,  under  the  influence  of  a  Dr.  Urlsperger  who  had 
recently  visited  England,  there  was  founded  a  German 
Christian  Society  on  much  the  same  lines  as  the  Eclectic 
Society  in  England,  which  undertook  to  gather  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  the  general  condition  of  Christianity. 
As  soon  as  the  London  Missionary  Society  was  formed 
the  Basel  Society  entered  into  communication  with  it, 
and  in  1801  a  secretary,  on  going  to  London  to  care  for 
a  German  congregation,  became  a  director  in  the  English 
society.  At  about  the  same  time  a  Bohemian  preacher 
in  Berlin,"  Father  "  Janicke,  founded  a  school  for  the  train- 
ing of  missionary  labourers.  From  this  school  went  a 
large  number  of  the  missionaries  of  the  London  and 
Church  Missionary  Societies,  among  them  Rhenius  (af- 
terwards the  inspirer  of  Lutheran  missions  in  America), 
Nylander,  Glitzlaff,  and  others. 

In    1815,  largely  under  the  influence  of  Germans  in 


78  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

London  in  close  touch  with  the  London  Missionary  So- 
ciety, the  Basel  Missionary  Society  was  formed,  but  for 
several  years  it  limited  its  labours  to  a  connection  with 
the  English  societies,  not  commencing  its  own  work  until 
1821. 

Already,  however,  Holland  had  come  to  the  front, 
under  the  vigorous  leadership  of  Van  der  Kemp,  a  grad- 
uate of  the  University  of  Leyden,  a  trained  soldier, 
linguist  and  physician,  who,  on  hearing  the  appeal  of 
the  London  Missionary  Society,  had  offered  his  services 
and  was  the  founder  of  its  South  Africa  missions.  Be- 
fore leaving,  however,  he  had  secured  in  1797  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Netherlands  Missionary  Society.  Naturally 
attention  was  first  directed  to  the  Dutch  Colonial  posses- 
sions, but  so  hostile  was  the  attitude  of  the  Dutch  East 
India  Company  that  the  first  missionaries  went  out  under 
the  London  Society,  though  supported  in  Holland. 

The  modern  missionary  movement  was  fairly  inaugu- 
rated. The  initiative  of  Carey  had  been  followed  by 
Haweis  and  Venn  in  England,  Mills  and  Judson  in 
America,  Van  der  Kemp  and  Janicke  on  the  Continent. 
One  characteristic  is  to  be  specially  noted.  These 
J  various  organizations  developed  immediate  aggressive 
J  work,  only  as  they  represented  individual  responsibility 
and  voluntary  association.  Wherever  they  were  identi- 
fied with  ecclesiastical  bodies,  or  under  the  control  of  the 
State  tradition,  it  required  time,  and  the  pressure  of  the 
principle  of  voluntaryism,'  to  bring  them  out  into  active 
participation  in   the  actual  work  of  missions. 

*  Sec  Warneck,  •«  History  of  Protestant  Missions." 


VI 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  MODERN  MISSIONARY 

MOVEMENT 

AT  the  commencement  of  the  nineteenth  century 
the  foreign  missionary  activity  of  the  Church 
was  confined  to  four  societies,  three  Enghsh 
and  one  Dutch,  and  of  these  only  two  had  any  represent- 
atives on  the  field.  With  the  opening  of  the  twentieth 
century,  the  organized  societies  of  considerable  size  num- 
ber not  far  from  one  hundred,  while  of  all  kinds  of  so- 
cieties directly  connected  with  the  foreign  missionary  en- 
terprise there  are  probably  not  less  than  three  hundred 
and  fifty,  perhaps  more,  as  scarcely  a  year  goes  by  with- 
out adding  to  the  number.  To  trace  these  individually 
would  require  great  space  and  would  be  confusing.  The 
trees  should  not  obscure  the  forest.  In  the  study  of  de- 
tail, we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  movement  itself. 

The  development  of  the  missionary  enterprise,  in  the  dif- 
ferent Christian  countries,  has,  in  general,  followed  three 
lines :  denominational,  collateral  aid,  and  independent  or 
special  undertakings.  The  distinction  between  these 
cannot  always  be  clearly  drawn,  but  for  the  most  part 
they  will  serve  the  present  purpose,  which  is  to  give  a 
brief  survey  of  the  movement  in  its  chief  characteristics. 

I,  Development  by  Denominations. — The  denomina- 
tional divisions  of  the  present  day  had  their  origin  in  the 
post-Reformation  conditions  already  noted.  At  the  time 
of   Carey  the  lines  had  not  been  very  sharply  drawn 

79 


8o  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

except  by  the  Anglican  High-Church  party  and  the  Bap- 
tists. Evangelical  Churchmen,  Puritans,  Presbyterians, 
Independents,  and  Wesleyans,  were  free  to  mingle.  As, 
however,  the  missionary  work  called  for  greater  support 
and  necessitated  careful  planning  and  organization  it  be- 
came inevitable  that  those  akin  in  type  of  thought,  form 
of  worship,  or  manner  of  ecclesiastical  government,  should 
draw  together,  and  that  involved  also  drawing  apart  from 
those  less  closely  allied.  In  this  there  was  no  denial  of 
fellowship,  rather  a  recognition  of  certain  conditions  as 
essential  to  the  widest  extension  of  missionary  influence. 

England. — Thus  the  members  of  the  National  Church 
soon  came  to  realize  that  if  they  would  hope  to  enHst 
others  of  that  Church,  they  must  have  an  organization, 
which  while  thoroughly  Anglican,  was  at  the  same  time 
in  sympathy  with  the  spiritual  movement  that  was  stirring 
the  nation  to  its  depths.  So  the  Church  Missionary  So- 
ciety came  into  being.  The  two  Scotch  societies  of 
Glasgow  and  Edinburgh  preceding  it  in  point  of  time, 
were  rather  of  the  nature  of  local  committees,  than 
national  or  general  societies. 

The  next  to  organize  with  a  view  to  denominational 
work  were  the  Wesleyans,  1814,  and  two  years  later  the 
General,  or  Arminian,  Baptists  found  work  with  the  Par- 
ticular, or  Calvinistic,  Baptists  unsatisfactory  and  started 
a  society  of  their  own.  By  that  time  the  movement  in 
Scotland  had  gained  power,  and  the  foundations  of  the 
great  societies  were  laid  by  Dr.  Inglis  and  Dr.  Duff. 
Gradually,  one  after  another  all  the  denominations  fol- 
lowed until  every  branch  of  Presbyterians,  English, 
Scotch  and  Covenanters,  and  the  various  bodies  of 
Methodists  and  Baptists  were  represented  on  the  foreign 
field. 


Development  of  Missionary  Movement     81 

America. — Much  the  same  conditions  prevailed  in 
America  though  the  process  was  slower.  After  the 
organization  of  the  American  Board  in  18 10,  the  Baptist 
Union  in  18 14,  and  the  Methodist  Society  in  1819,  for  a 
number  of  years  no  other  was  formed,  the  great  major- 
ity of  churches  interested  at  all  in  missions,  contributing 
both  money  and  missionaries,  to  the  work  of  the  Amer- 
ican Board.  Within  the  decade  commencing  1835,  nine 
societies  were  organized,  representing  the  Episcopalian, 
and  various  branches  of  Presbyterian,  Baptist  and  Re- 
formed churches,  and  from  that  time  on  the  increase  in 
number  was  rapid,  until  by  the  close  of  the  century  there 
was  not  a  single  denomination  of  any  size  in  the  United 
States  that  had  not  its  own  society  or  board  of  foreign 
missions.  Canada  for  a  time  kept  in  close  touch  with 
the  English  societies,  but  in  1824  a  Methodist  Society 
was  formed  and  others  followed,  until  Canadian  workers 
of  the  different  churches  were  found  in  all  parts  of  the 
foreign  field. 

On  the  Continent  of  Europe  the  corresponding  devel- 
opment followed  somewhat  different  lines,  chiefly  national, 
but  also  local  and  confessional,  or  doctrinal. 

Germany. — A  number  of  prominent  ministers,  includ- 
ing Professors  Neander  and  Tholuck,  issued  in  1823  an 
appeal  for  funds  in  ail  of  foreign  missions,  and  the  next 
year  organized  the  Berlin  Missionary  Society  (Berlin  I). 
For  a  time  it  was  hoped  to  effect  a  union  with  "  Father  " 
Janicke's  school,  but  that  failed  and  in  1830  an  inde- 
pendent seminary  was  established,  followed  in  1834  by 
direct  missionary  work  taking  the  place  of  the  general 
aid  to  other  societies,  to  which  the  society  at  first  con- 
fined its  efforts. 

Even  before  the  founding  of  Janicke's  school  in  Berlin, 


82  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

a  few  ministers  in  Elberfeld,  near  Cologne,  had  joined 
(1799)  in  a  Mission  Prayer  Union.  As  their  numbers 
increased  a  Bible  Society  and  a  Tract  Society  were  or- 
ganized, then  a  missionary  society,  auxiliary  to  Basel, 
which  in  1825  developed  into  the  Rhenish  Missionary 
Society. 

These  three  societies  were  established  on  a  broad, 
unsectarian  basis,  similar  to  that  of  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society  and  the  American  Board,  and  by  wise 
management  have  succeeded  in  keeping  both  Lutheran 
and  Reformed  constituents  in  cordial  cooperation.  Other 
societies  were  not  so  fortunate.  As  the  confessional 
spirit  increased,  and  the  rival  merits  of  the  Lutheran 
and  Heidelberg  Catechisms  claimed  attention  and  loyal 
support,  there  arose  different  societies.  Thus  from  the 
North  German  (Bremen)  Missionary  Society,  two  fac- 
tions went  forth,  one  to  form  the  Leipsic  (strict  Lu- 
theran) Society,  the  other  to  join  the  forces  of  the  Herr- 
mannsburg  Mission.  This  latter,  like  the  Gossner  Mission, 
was  the  outcome  of  the  earnest  conviction  of  a  single 
man,  and  represented  not  so  mucli  a  protest  against  any 
particular  confession  or  creed  as  an  earnest  appeal  for 
what  was  deemed  a  more  spiritual  and  apostolic  method. 
Gossner,  a  director  in  the  Berlin  Society,  felt  that  the 
idea  of  self-support  of  missionaries  on  the  field  should  be 
carried  further,  and  Ludwig  Harms,  a  pastor  in  a  village 
in  Hanover,  was  dominated  by  the  conception  of  the 
value  of  mission  colonies,  and  believed  in  sending  large 
numbers  of  Christian  emigrants  to  establish  a  sort  of 
missionary  community.  Since  the  decease  of  their  found- 
ers, both  societies  have  gradually  adopted  the  methods 
of  other  organizations,  and  are  not  conducted  on  any 
distinctive  plan.     Other  societies  have  arisen  from  time 


Development  of  Missionary  Movement     83 

to  time  because  of  some  special  need,  or  some  special 
idea  being  advanced,  but  none  have  equalled  those 
already  mentioned. 

Scaadinavia. — As  early  as  17 14  the  Royal  College 
for  Missions  was  opened  in  Copenhagen  as  the  organ  of 
the  State  Church  of  Denmark,  and  missionaries  were 
sent  out  to  assist  Moravian  missions;  but  by  the  begin- 
ning of  the  nineteenth  century  the  work  of  the  State 
Church  declined.  The  revival  of  interest  in  missions  in 
England  and  Germany  was  felt  also  in  Denmark,  and 
influenced  Pastor  Bone  Falck  Ronne  to  found  the  Danish 
Missionary  Society  in  1821.  For  forty  years  it  worked 
through  other  organizations,  principally  the  Moravian 
and  Basel  missions,  but  in  i86o  this  society  took  the 
lead  in  all  Danish  mission  work,  and  two  years  later 
began  independent  work.  In  1863  they  were  asked  to 
assume  the  care  of  the  work  among  the  Tamils  of  India, 
then  in  charge  of  the  Danish  missionary  Ochs  who  had 
left  the  Leipsic  Society  because  of  the  caste  question. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  the  Danish  Tamil  Mission. 

Norwegian  and  Swedish  Missions  were  the  children  of 
Danish  Missions,  and  though  societies  were  organized  in 
1826  and  1829,  they  were  little  more  than  auxiliaries  to 
other  societies.  With  the  growth  of  national  life  came 
development  of.  missionary  interest  following  somewhat 
different  lines  in  the  two  countries.  The  Swedish  Mis- 
sionary Society,  founded  in  1835,  was  never  very  active, 
and  it  was  twenty  years  before  the  Evangelical  National 
Society  came  into  being  as  the  result  of  a  revival  in  the 
churches.  Then  followed  the  Swedish  Church  Mission 
(1874),  under  the  special  direction  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  Swedish  Church  and  the  royal  patronage. 
Minor  societies  of  special  type  have  sprung  up,  to  be 


84  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

noted  later.  In  Norway,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Nor- 
wegian Missionary  Society  founded  in  1842  to  represent 
the  Free  Church  element,  has  from  the  beginning  held  its 
place  as  the  strong  society,  one  effort  to  establish  a  dis- 
tinctively State  Church  Mission  having  failed.  Finland 
followed  the  other  Scandinavian  countries  with  her  own 
society  in  1859.  In  Holland  the  Netherlands  Mission- 
ary Society  stood  alone  until  1846,  when  a  number  of 
societies  arose  under  the  pressure  of  a  revival  which 
desired  freer  expression  than  a  State  Church  organization 
could  well  give. 

France. — Under  the  peculiar  conditions  in  France  at 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  and  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  it  was  scarcely  to  be  expected  that  mis- 
sions should  find  a  foothold.  Whatever  of  evangelical 
faith  there  was  had  sufficient  to  do  to  maintain  itself. 
With  the  overthrow  of  the  empire,  however,  the  Protestant 
Church  rallied,  and  about  1820  there  were  several  mis- 
sionary committees  in  Alsace  and  the  south  of  France  and 
in  Paris.  These  united,  in  1822,  in  the  Societe  des 
Missions  ^vangeliques,  often  known  as  the  Paris  Evan- 
gelical Society.  As  in  the  case  of  other  European 
societies,  a  training  institute  was  immediately  formed  in 
Paris  in  1824,  but  the  first  missionaries  sent  out  went  to 
South  Africa  in  1829.  For  some  time  this  was  the  only 
work;  then  came  the  revolution  of  1848,  and  as  soon  as 
the  country  had  regained  its  vigour  missionary  activity 
was  resumed. 

With  the  development  of  French  colonial  enterprise,  a 
peculiar  condition  became  apparent.  A  government 
which  at  home,  while  cordially  Catholic,  was  decidedly 
anti-papal  and  particularly  hostile  to  the  Jesuits,  showed 
in  its  foreign  relations  a  distinct  and  often  extreme  favour- 


'  Development  of  Missionary  Movement     85 

itism  for  those  same  influences.  In  West  Africa,  Tahiti, 
and  especially  in  Madagascar,  the  hostility  of  the  French 
officials  under  Jesuit  influence  and  supported  by  the 
home  government,  was  so  bitter  that  it  seemed  for  a  time 
as  if  the  work  of  the  London  Society  would  be  destroyed. 
But  the  Paris  Society  came  forward ;  in  some  cases 
the  work  was  handed  over  to  it  in  full,  in  others  it  co- 
operated with  the  English  and  American  societies  to  the 
great  advantage  of  the  work.  Of  late  the  Jesuit  missions 
have  also  come  under  the  ban  of  a  government  that 
seems  to  have  no  faith  in  any  religion. 

Colonial  Societies. — Under  this  general  term  a 
number  of  both  large  and  small  organizations  may  be 
grouped ;  these  are  established  in  various  colonies,  chiefly 
English,  in  the  West  Indies,  Australasia  and  South 
Africa.  They  generally  originated  in  the  colonial  work 
of  the  different  missionary  societies,  and  sometimes  com- 
menced as  home  missions,  only  branching  out  into  foreign 
missions  after  the  colonies  became  fully  established.  The 
most  important  of  these  are  the  Australasian  societies, 
identified  at  first  or  cooperating  with  the  denominational 
societies,  Wesleyan,  Presbyterian  and  Anglican  of  Great 
Britain  and  Canada,  but  in  many  cases  carrying  on  an 
independent  work.  Special  reference  should  be  made  to 
the  Board  of  the  Hawaiian  Evangelical  Association,  and 
the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church  in  South  Africa. 

Aside  from  these  organizations  representing  regular 
denominations  or  national  churches,  quite  a  number  of 
societies  have  been  organized  under  the  auspices  of  the 
denominations  for  special  lines  of  work.  Of  such  were 
the  South  American  Missionary  Society  (1844),  Anglican, 
the  outcome  of  the  work  of  Captain  Allen  Gardiner ;  the 


86  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Universities  Mission  (i860),  the  answer  of  the  Church 
of  England  to  the  appeal  of  Livingstone.  Other  societies 
of  a  more  specific  character  come  under  the  following 
heads : 

2.  Collateral  and  Aid  Societies. — It  is  significant 
of  the  character  and  quality  of  the  missionary  movement 
in  its  earliest  days  that  side  by  side  with  the  distinctively 
missionary  or  evangelizing  societies,  there  should  have 
sprung  up  the  Tract  and  Bible  Societies.  At  the  very 
beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  England  and  Scot- 
land each  had  a  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowl- 
edge, but  these,  being  more  formal  and  circumscribed  in 
their  character  did  not  fill  the  need  of  the  new  revival, 
and  the  Religious  Tract  and  Book  Society  of  Scotland 
(i793)>  ^^<^  the  Religious  Tract  Society  in  London 
(1799),  served  not  only  to  supply  the  need  for  Christian 
thought  and  life,  but  as  rallying  points  for  those  interested 
in  different  lines  of  evangelistic  missions.  Then  came  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  in  1804,  originating  in 
a  local  need,  but  soon  enlarging  its  borders  to  cover  the 
whole  field  of  missionary  endeavour,  and  as  truly  a  mis- 
sionary society  as  any  that  bears  the  distinctive  name. 
On  the  Continent  the  same  impulse  was  manifest.  Bible 
and  Tract  Societies  sprang  up  everywhere,  while  across 
the  Atlantic  a  number  of  small  organizations  of  the  same 
general  character  and  purpose  were  merged  into  the 
American  Bible  Society  (18 16)  and  the  American  Tract 
Society  (1823). 

Of  a  somewhat  different  type  was  the  Christian  Faith 
Society,  next  to  the  New  England  Company  the  oldest 
missionary  organization,  established  in  1691,  in  England, 
for  the  purpose  of  administering  the  estate  of  Hon.  Rob- 
ert Boyle  in  the  interests  of  general  benevolence,  and  par- 


Development  of  Missionary  Movement     87 

ticularly  of  mission  work.  With  the  development  of  the 
denominational  societies,  there  was  on  the  part  of  many 
an  unwillingness  to  be  shut  out  from  participation  in  the 
work  in  certain  fields  simply  because  their  own  church 
was  not  represented  in  them,  and  there  arose  a  number 
of  organizations  with  no  denominational  affiliations, 
which  acted  practically  as  agencies  for  specific  lines 
of  work.  The  first  was  the  London  Society  in  Aid 
of  Moravian  Missions  (18 18),  and  this  was  followed  by 
the  Turkish  (Bible  Lands)  Missions  Aid  Society  and  a 
number  of  others.- 

Medical  Missions. — Two  classes  of  these  societies 
have  attained  great  prominence,  the  Women's  Missionary 
Societies,  and  Medical  Missions.  The  latter  have  been 
less  prominent  as  a  separate  form  of  work  than  as  a  de- 
partment of  the  work  of  the  general  societies.  After  Dr. 
John  Scudder  had  led  the  way  in  India  (1819),  and  Dr. 
Peter  Parker  in  China  (1834),  medical  missionaries  in- 
creased in  number,  becoming  in  many  fields  as  important 
a  factor  as  the  teachers,  but  there  have  been  compara- 
tively few  distinctively  medical  missionary  societies.  The 
Edinburgh  Society  (1841),  and  the  London  Society 
(1878)  have  both  sent  out  their  own  and  furnished  med- 
ical missionaries  to  the  other  societies,  while  others,  as  the 
Zenana  Bible  and  Medical  Mission  (1852),  have  given 
to  medical  work  special  prominence.  In  1861  the  first 
woman  medical  missionary.  Dr.  Clara  Swain,  was  sent  to 
India,  and  the  first  woman's  hospital  was  opened  in 
Bareilly  in  1874. 

Woman's  Societies. — These  mark  a  distinct  phase  of 
foreign  missionary  activity.  From  the  very  first  women 
united  more  or  less  formally  for  assistance  to  what  were 
known  as  the  regular  boards,  in  raising  money,  but  as- 


88  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

suming  no  personal  responsibility  or  undertaking  any 
definite  work  ;  the  first  of  these  local  organizations  was 
the  Boston  Female  Society  for  Missionary  Purposes 
(1800),  in  which  Baptist  and  Congregational  women 
united.  By  1839  more  than  680  organizations  of  women 
were  collecting  funds  for  the  American  Board,  and  in 
smaller  numbers  for  the  Baptist,  Presbyterian  and 
Methodist  Episcopal  denominations.  So  far  as  is  known, 
the  first  single  woman  to  be  sent  out  was  Miss  M.  A. 
Cooke,  who  went  to  India  in  1820  under  the  British  and 
Foreign  School  Society,  in  response  to  a  request  from 
Calcutta  for  a  school  for  Hindu  girls.  While  she  was 
studying  Bengali  and  wondering  how  to  begin,  she 
visited  a  boys'  school,  for  help  in  language  study ;  while 
there  the  native  teacher  drove  away  a  little  girl  who  for 
three  months  had  been  begging  to  be  taught  to  read. 
Here  was  her  opportunity ;  accompanied  by  an  English 
woman  as  interpreter,  she  went  again  the  next  day  and 
found  fifteen  girls  with  their  mothers,  and  thus  was  begun 
the  education  and  uplift  of  the  women  of  India.  In 
1830  Mary  Reynolds  went  to  Smyrna  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Female  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  New  Haven, 
to  work  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Josiah  Brewer,  parents  of 
Mr.  Justice  Brewer  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court, 
in  the  education  of  Greek  women,  and  afterwards  married 
Dr.  W.  G.  Schauffler.  In  1836  Eliza  Agnew  went  to 
Ceylon  and  in  1843  Fidelia  Fiske  commenced  work  in 
Persia.  These,  however,  and  others,  went  out  under  the 
regular  boards,  as  it  was  not  for  some  time  that  distinctive 
societies  were  organized  for  women's  work  for  women. 

In  1834,  David  Abeel,  returning  from  China  through 
England  to  America,  presented  so  vividly  and  earnestly 
the    absolute   necessity   of  greatly   increased    effort   on 


Development  of  Missionary  Movement     89 

behalf  of  the  women  of  other  lands,  that  The  Society 
for  Promoting  Female  Education  in  the  East  was 
formed  in  England,  the  pioneer  in  that  work.  In 
Scotland  a  society  was  organized  in  1837,  and  the 
German  Society  for  Christian  Education  in  the  East  in 
1842.  The  Indian  Female  Normal  School  and  Instruc- 
tion Society  was  formed  in  England  in  1852  and  the 
Wesleyan  Auxiliary  in  1859.  From  this  time  on  these 
societies  rapidly  increased,  until  not  merely  every  branch 
of  the  Church  was  represented  but  there  were  many 
private  associations  of  similar  character. 

In  America,  in  1807,  as  Robert  Morrison  on  his  way 
to  China  was  staying  in  New  York,  he  was  telling  some 
friends  in  a  parlour  of  the  great  need  of  the  field  to  which 
he  was  going.  A  little  girl  in  the  company,  who  afterwards 
became  Mrs.  T.  C.  Doremus,  was  deeply  interested  ;  as 
the  years  went  by  her  interest  increased,  and  when  Mr. 
Abeel  visited  America  after  the  formation  of  the  woman's 
society  in  England  and  attempted  a  similar  organiza- 
tion here,  he  was  ably  seconded  by  Mrs.  Doremus,  but 
the  effort  was  a  failure  owing  to  the  opposition  of  the  ex- 
isting boards,  as  a  large  part  of  their  income  would  be 
lost.  In  i860,  the  women  were  again  stirred  by  an 
address  of  Mrs.  Mason  ^f  Burma,  and  the  Woman's 
Union  Missionary  Society  was  formed  in  1861  through 
the  efforts  of  Mrs.  Doremus,  and  she  was  its  first  presi- 
dent. Seven  years  later  the  Woman's  Board  in  con- 
nection with  the  American  Board  was  organized,  and 
other  denominational  woman's  boards  or  societies  rapidly 
followed.  On  the  Continent  of  Europe  a  few  similar 
societies  have  been  established. 

J.  I?tdependefit  and  Special  Societies  or  enterprises. 
Reference   has    been   made   to  the  development   of  in- 


go  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

dividualism  particularly  in  the  century  preceding  Carey. 
It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  that  characteristic  would 
disappear.  For  a  time,  there  was  sufficient  scope  for  all 
kinds  of  individualism  within  the  limits  of  what  are 
known  as  the  regular  missionary  societies.  It  was  all 
pioneer  work.  No  trappers  or  hunters  on  the  Western 
prairies  or  in  the  Northern  forests,  were  more  absolutely 
independent  than  the  early  missionaries.  They  could  go 
where  they  pleased,  set  their  traps  to  catch  souls  as  they 
pleased,  build  their  churches  to  suit  either  their  own 
ideas,  or  what  they  conceived  to  be  the  immediate  needs 
of  the  communities  that  gradually  gathered  around 
them.  People  at  home,  officials  or  supporters  of  the 
missionary  societies  were  too  busy  with  raising  money, 
or  too  ignorant  of  the  situation  on  the  field  to  trouble 
themselves,  or  seek  in  any  way  to  control  the  methods  of 
their  representatives. 

As  the  missionary  force  increased,  however,  there  arose 
on  the  field  a  divergence  of  views.  The  uniform  effect 
of  missionary  work,  in  whatever  form,  is  to  develop  indi- 
viduality. "This  one  thing  I  do,"  has  been,  is,  and 
will  be  the  motto  of  the  worker,  and  one  man's  "one 
thing"  is  very  apt  to  be  different  from  another  man's 
"one  thing."  Each  may  be  valuable,  indeed  essential 
to  a  complete  plan,  and  yet  like  opposite  sections  of  a 
wheel,  they  may  appear  contradictory  instead  of  com- 
plementary. The  effect  of  this  upon  the  conduct  of  the 
work  on  the  field  gave  rise  to  a  considerable  move- 
ment, which  at  first  seemed  to  be  disintegrating  in  its 
influence,  but  which  eventually  proved  a  most  valuable 
auxiliary. 

Faith  Element. — As  it  is  often  given  to  one  man  to 
give  expression   to  a  thought   that   controls  a  number. 


Development  of  Missionary  Movement     91 

making  him  thus  an  exponent,  and  in  some  sense  a 
leader,  so  George  Miiller  of  Bristol,  England,  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  inspiration  of  a  somewhat  new  phase  of 
missionary  activity.  His  conversion  in  1825,  and  his 
entrance  oil  his  peculiar  life-work  ten  years  later,  drew 
the  attention  of  every  one  interested  in  missionary  work. 
The  story  of  that  life  does  not  belong  here.  It  is 
sufficient  to  note  that  its  great  emphasis  on  absolute  faith, 
especially  for  the  provision  for  material  needs,  and  the 
deep  spirituality  of  his  work,  raised  in  many  minds  the 
query  whether  Christian  missions  were  not  coming  to  de- 
pend too  much  on  organization  and  attendant  machinery. 
This  feeling  found  an  exponent  in  Rev.  J.  Hudson 
Taylor,  who  in  1853  went  to  China  in  connection  with 
a  society  specially  formed  for  the  purpose  of  pushing  the 
work  far  inland  as  much  as  possible  through  native  evan- 
gelists. He  afterwards  carried  on  an  independent  work, 
in  the  course  of  which  he  became  convinced  that  **it 
was  safe  to  trust  in  the  promises  of  God  for  the  supply, 
in  answer  to  prayer,  of  all  the  needs,  pecuniary  and 
otherwise,  of  the  work  to  which  He  calls  His  servants." 
He  also  became  much  impressed,  by  fellowship  with  the 
pioneer  missionary,  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Burns,  with  the 
necessity  of  giving  evangelization  rather  than  education 
the  first  place  in  mission  plans.  Failing  in  health, 
Mr.  Taylor  returned  to  England  in  i860,  but  thought 
over  these  topics  very  earnestly.  He  resolved  to  make 
no  public  appeal  lest  he  divert  funds  from  the  societies, 
but  simply  to  pray.  In  1862  he  returned  to  China  with 
two  associates,  working  on  this  basis.  It  became  evident, 
however,  that  there  must  be  some  medium  for  the  trans- 
mission of  funds  and  some  organization  for  the  selection  1 
of  candidates.     Accordingly  in   1865  the  China  Inland 


92  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Mission  was  organized,  and  later  auxiliaries  in  Scotland, 
North  America,  and  on  the  Continent.  Other  societies, 
too,  on  something  of  the  same  plan  were  formed,  among 
them  the  East  London  Institute  for  Foreign  Missions, 
now  the  Regions  Beyond  Missionary  Union,  in  England, 
the  Christian  and  Missionary  Alliance  in  America,  and 
a  member  of  Swedish  societies. 

These  were  all  strictly  undenominational,  drawing 
their  supplies  whether  of  workers  or  of  funds  from  all 
the  different  churches.  About  the  same  time,  and  per- 
haps influenced  somewhat  by  their  success,  a  number  of 
individual  enterprises  were  launched  by  persons  or  single 
churches,  that  for  one  reason  or  another  were  not  in 
sympathy  with  any  form  of  organization.  In  England 
this  was  largely  under  the  influence  of  the  Plymouth 
Brethren ;  in  America  it  found  its  advocates  chiefly 
among  those  who  emphasized  the  pre-millennial  advent  or 
continued  the  protest  against  all  forms  of  denominational 
organization  with  its  attendant  restrictions,  which  gave 
birth  to  the  Christians,  Disciples  of  Christ,  and  various 
Holiness  churches.  These  efforts  sprang  up  on  every 
hand.  Sometimes  single  individuals  would  start  out 
with  practically  no  support ;  again  a  few  churches  would 
contribute  to  meet  their  expenses.  For  a  time  they 
flourished,  but  after  a  few  years,  the  individuals  for  the 
most  part  returned  or  joined  the  forces  of  the  larger  so- 
cieties, and  the  associations  of  churches  gathered  to  them- 
selves still  others,  and  perforce  of  circumstances  de- 
veloped into  regular  societies.  Their  work,  however,  of 
arousing  an  active  interest  in  foreign  missions,  was  ac- 
complished, and  to-day  few  communities  fail  to  acknowl- 
edge the  duty  of  missions,  and  even  the  weakest  con- 
tribute their  share  to  their  support. 


VII 

STUDENT  AND.  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S 
MOVEMENTS 

AMONG  the  various  lines  along  which  the  mis- 
sionary activity  of  the  Protestant  churches 
has  developed,  none  is  more  significant  of  the 
marked  difference  between  modern  missions  and  those 
of  previous  periods  than  the  student  and  young  people's 
movements.  Since  the  school  of  Pantaenus  in  Alexandria, 
the  missionary  work  has  looked  to  students  for  its 
recruits,  and  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  what  Europe  would 
have  been  in  the  Middle  Ages  without  the  schools  at 
Zona,  and  those  on  the  Continent  founded  by  Boniface 
and  his  associates.  In  these  cases,  however,  it  was  the 
mature  student  as  a  missionary  himself  that  was  the  end 
in  view.  The  student  world  as  a  special  field  had  not 
come  into  existence,  and  young  people,  except  as  pro- 
spective students,  were  out  of  the  line  of  missionary 
vision.  With  the  revival  of  university  life  on  the 
Continent  and  in  England,  the  missionary  cause  came 
into  view,  though  somewhat  vaguely.  The  Pietist  move- 
ment in  Halle,  the  Methodist  movement  in  Oxford,  were 
primarily  local  religious  revivals,  and  only  indirectly 
connected  with  missions,  although  to  the  impulse  of 
those  revivals  were  due  the  earliest  missionary  enter- 
prises. Janicke's  school  at  Berlin  and  others  connected 
with  the  Continental  societies  were  special  training  in- 
stitutions and  seem  to  have  had  no  relation  to  general 

93 


94  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

student  life.  So  too  the  early  Societies  of  Inquiry, 
organized  in  many  of  tlie  American  theological  semi- 
naries and  colleges,  were  originally  for  the  specific 
purpose  of  increasing  the  information  in  regard  to  the 
foreign  field,  but  they  gradually  broadened  to  include 
general  church  work.  Even  so,  their  scope  was  limited  ; 
membership  was  generally  supposed  to  imply  an  expecta- 
tion of  entering  missionary  or  ministerial  life,  and  still  the 
student  world  was  practically  looked  upon  as  merely  re- 
cruiting ground  for  missionary  service.  Outside  of  this, 
however,  there  was  little,  if  any,  conception  of  utilizing 
the  vigour  and  enthusiasm  of  youth  as  a  power  in  the  ex- 
tension of  the  kingdom. 

One  of  the  first  suggestions,  if  not  the  first,  for  arous- 
ing the  interest  in  mission  work  of  young  people,  was 
made  by  Miss  M.  A.  Cooke,  who  went  in  1820  as  a  mis- 
sionary to  India.  Finding  that  the  girls  were  eager  to 
learn  to  read,  she  organized  a  class  in  1822,  and  on 
making  her  report  to  the  Church  Missionary  Society 
suggested  that  the  girls  of  England  be  urged  to 
band  together  for  the  support  of  such  schools.  Nearly 
twenty  years  later  (1843),  John  Williams  appealed  to 
the  children  of  England  for  a  ship  to  carry  the  gospel 
from  island  to  island  in  the  South  Seas,  and  nobly  they 
responded,  not  once  but  many  times  as  one  vessel  after 
another  was  needed.  The  example  of  the  London 
Society  was  followed  by  the  American  Board,  which  in 
1856,  called  on  the  Sunday-school  children  of  America, 
to  build,  equip,  and  send  forth  the  Morni?ig  Star  for 
work  among  the  islands  of  Micronesia. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association. — About  the 
same  time  that  Miss  Cooke  called  on  the  girls'  schools  of 
England    to  help  their  sisters  of  India,   David  Nasmith 


Young  People's  Movements  95 

founded  some  young  men's  societies  (1823-1838)  in 
Scotland,  England  and  America,  the  precursors  of  the 
work  done  by  George  Williams  in  London  in  1844. 
The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in  its  inception 
was  in  no  sense  a  missionary  organization,  yet  in  this,  as 
in  so  many  instances,  the  founder  builded  wiser  than  he 
knew.  It  was  inevitable  that  as  the  foundations  became 
more  firmly  established,  the  young  men  should  no  longer 
be  satisfied  with  their  immediate  needs,  or  more  intimate 
companionship.  Equally  natural  was  it  that  this  broader 
vision  should  have  been  gained  in  America,  to  which  in 
1 85 1  the  Association  idea  had  been  carried,  the  first  or- 
ganizations being  formed  in  Montreal  and  Boston,  Decem- 
ber 9th  and  29th  of  that  year,  neither  city  having  any 
knowledge  of  the  other's  action.  In  June,  1854,  there  was 
a  general  conference  of  American  Associations  in  Buffalo 
and  in  August,  1855,  at  the  first  World's  Conference  a  dec- 
laration known  as  the  Paris  Basis  was  adopted  :  ''The 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  seeks  to  unite  those 
young  men,  who,  regarding  Jesus  Christ  as  their  God  and 
Saviour,  according  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  desire  to  be 
His  disciples  in  their  doctrine  and  in  their  life,  and  to  as- 
sociate their  efforts  for  the  extension  of  His  kingdom 
among  young  men." 

For  a  time  all  was  eUchusiasm  ;  then  came  the  break 
occasioned  by  the  Civil  War  in  America,  and  the  whole 
energy  of  the  new  organization  was  put  into  the  army 
work.  With  the  return  of  peace  and  the  general  revival 
of  prosperity,  the  work  of  the  Association  enlarged.  For 
some  years,  however,  it  was  fully  occupied  with  the  situa- 
tion in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  and  it  was  not  un- 
til 1878  that  a  Central  International  Committee  wag 
organized  at  Geneva  to  bring  the  associations  that  were 


96  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

springing  up  not  only  in  Europe  but  in  other  lands  into 
communication  with  each  other. 

Student  Conferences. — Still  the  conception  of  their 
having  any  share  in  foreign  missions  was  yet  to  be 
realized.  The  impulse  to  this  development  was  given 
by  Dvvight  L.  Moody.  During  his  work  in  Chicago, 
in  connection  with  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  as  secretary  and 
evangelist,  he  had  held  aloof  from  efforts  to  reach 
students,  feeling  that  their  whole  type  of  thought  was  such 
that  he  could  have  little  influence  over  them.  During  his 
visit  to  England  in  1883-4,  he  visited  Cambridge  and 
Oxford  and  met  with  such  success,  under  most  trying 
conditions,  that  ever  after  he  felt  a  special  interest  in  the 
student  department  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work.  On  his 
return  to  America  this  interest  took  practical  form. 
There  was  already  an  Inter-Seminary  Missionary  Alliance, 
organized  in  1879  to  meet  the  increasing  interest  in  the 
theological  seminaries,  and  there  was  a  strong  feeling  that 
the  work  should  go  back  of  the  seminaries  into  the  col- 
leges. In  1886  Mr.  Moody  invited  a  conference  of 
Christian  college  students  to  meet  atNorthfield,  primarily 
to  consider  means  of  arousing  interest  in  Bible  study. 
There  were  present  250  delegates  from  eighty  colleges  in 
twenty-five  states.  Of  these  twenty-one  had  already  def- 
initely decided  to  go  to  the  foreign  field,  and  at  least 
three  of  them  had  come  with  the  deep  conviction  that 
from  that  conference  a  large  number  would  be  called  to 
I  enter  the  foreign  work.  Before  the  sessions  closed,  100 
had  pledged  themselves  as  "  willing  and  desirous  to  be- 
come foreign  missionaries." 

Student  Volunteer  Movement. — As  a  result  of  the 
conference  a  deputation  visited  176  institutions  including 
a  majority  of  the  leading  colleges  and  divinity  schools  of 


Young  People's  Movements  97 

Canada  and  the  United  States,  and  in  December  of  1888, 
following  a  second  conference  at  North  field  and  a  visit 
from  Studd  of  Cambridge,  and  Henry  Druaimond,  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Missions  was 
organized.  This  was  in  no  sense  a  missionary  society, 
though  some  desired  that  one  should  be  ,  formed  after 
the  plan  of  the  Universities  Mission  in  East  Africa.  Its 
purpose  was  not  only  to  arouse  interest  in  missions  among 
students  and  thus  provide  recruits  for  the  missionary 
boards,  but  also  to  enlist  in  behalf  of  the  work  the  active 
sympathy  and  support  of  those  who,  for  any  reason,  could 
not  themselves  go  to  the  foreign  field. 

One  feature  aroused  much  discussion.  The  motto 
adopted  by  the  Movement  was  "The  Evangelization  of 
the  World  in  this  Generation."  There  were  a  number, 
both  missionaries  on  the  field  and  persons  identified 
with  the  conduct  of  the  work  at  home,  who  felt  that  it 
was  impracticable  and  also  indicated  an  incorrect  con- 
ception of  the  true  character  of  the  work  of  missions  ;  if 
the  situation  is  seriously  considered,  and  the  existence 
in  China  alone  of  400,000,000  who  had  not  heard  the 
gospel,  not  to  speak  of  other  lands.  To  supply  and 
train  workers  to  reach  these  great  masses  within  a  single 
generation  was  manifestly  not  possible.  Furthermore  it 
appeared  contrary  to  the  entire  course  of  missionary  his- 
tory. Again,  it  seemed  to  imply  that  to  evangelize  the 
world  was  simply  to  herald  the  good  news,  so  '*  that  all 
might  have  the  opportunity  to  hear  "  ;  a  view  of  the 
mission  work  which,  while  held  by  a  few  earnest  and 
devoted  workers,  was  considered  utterly  inadequate  by 
the  great  majority.  As  set  forth,  however,  in  the  quad- 
rennial Student  Conventions,  by  John  R.  Mott,  chairman 
of    the   committee,   it  emphasized  the  responsibility  of 


98  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

each  generation  of  Christians  for  its  fellows  in  all  the 
earth,  and  became  a  clarion  call  to  work  rather  than  a 
statement  of  a  time  limit,  or  a  specific  method.  As  such 
it  has  been  a  mighty  power,  not  only  in  the  student 
world,  but  in  the  churches,  and  more  lately  in  the  lay- 
men's movement. 

There  was  indeed  not  a  little  opposition  to  the  whole 
movement.  Grave  and  sober  men  were  afraid  that 
youthful  enthusiasm  would  run  away  with  prudence,  and 
some  religious  journals  questioned  not  merely  the  pro- 
priety of  college  men  engaging  directly  and  extensively 
in  the  work  of  foreign  missions,  but  their  right  to  do  so ; 
regarding  such  action  as  an  infringement  of  the  preroga- 
tives of  the  Church.  The  leaders,  however,  soon  made 
it  evident  that  their  real  purpose  was  assistance,  not  in- 
fringement, and  the  results  have  shown  the  wisdom  of 
their  course. 

Results. — Any  summary  of  these  results  in  limited 
space,  must  be  defective.  They  include  the  extension  of 
missionary  interest  into  nearly  1,000  institutions  of  learn- 
ing, so  that  whereas  the  missionary  force  at  the  time  of  its 
inception  was  recruited  from  a  few  colleges,  it  now  repre- 
sents all  classes  of  colleges  and  every  section  of  the 
country;  the  sending  of  over  3,000  young  men  and 
women  to  the  field,  whose  interest  originated  in  or  was 
strengthened  by  the  movement ;  it  has  assisted  greatly  in 
raising  the  standard  of  quality  in  missionaries  ;  it  has  given 
the  impulse  to  similar  movements  in  other  lands,  and  join- 
ing with  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  has  contributed  largely  to  the  or- 
ganization and  development  of  the  World's  Student  Chris- 
tian Federation,  the  Young  People's  Missionary  Move- 
ment and  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement.  The  in- 
fluence of  the  practical  life  of  the  movement  is  made 


Young  People's  Movements  99 

manifest  by  the  fact  that  every  one  of  the  sixty-nine 
members  of  the  executive  committee  and  secretaries  who 
have  been  volunteers  has  either  gone  to  the  field,  or  has 
been  detained  at  home  by  ill  health  or  for  special  serv- 
ice for  the  boards.  Another  result  of  the  highest  im- 
portance has  been  the  enlargement  of  the  supply  of  mis- 
sionary literature,  the  organization  of  special  study  classes, 
and  the  general  extension  of  information  and  intelligent 
interest,  resulting  in  its  turn  in  keeping  the  foreign  mission- 
ary cause  in  the  forefront  of  public  notice,  notwithstand- 
ing the  innumerable  other  subjects,  each  of  great  value, 
that  have  attracted  attention.  In  this  last,  undoubtedly, 
the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  has  been  but  one  of 
many  factors,  yet  that  it  has  been  a  most  important  one 
is  recognized  by  all. 

Foreign  Department  Y.  M.  C.  A. — In  close  con- 
nection with  the  organization  of  the  Student  Volunteer 
Movement  was  the  development  of  a  foreign  missionary 
department  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  As  the  college  work  of 
the  Association  had  expanded  so  that  there  were  organ- 
izations in  over  230  colleges,  and  as  the  conferences  at 
Northfield  had  quickened  the  spiritual  life  and  the  sense 
of  fellowship,  there  arose  an  interest  in,  and  a  feeling  of 
responsibility  for  young  men,  particularly  for  the  stu- 
dents in  mission  lands.  A  long  journey  by  L.  D. 
Wishard  through  those  lands  with  a  vivid  report  of  the 
conditions  and  the  wonderful  opportunities,  occasioned 
the  formation  of  a  special  department  for  the  purpose  of 
organizing  similar  associations,  both  for  students  and 
other  young  men.  The  work  was  commenced  with  char- 
acteristic promptness  and  in  1889  the  first  secretary, 
David  McConaughy,  went  to  India  to  inaugurate  a  work 
second  to  none  in  the  whole  department  of  missionary 


loo  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

activity.  Here  again  there  has  been  the  constant  pur- 
pose carried  out  with  uniform  conscientiousness,  always 
to  work  in  perfect  harmony  with  existing  missionary  en- 
terprises. As  a  consequence,  missionaries  of  every  de- 
nomination have  not  merely  welcomed  the  workers  but 
done  everything  in  their  power  to  assist  and  further  their 
efforts.  Indeed  they  have  supplied  a  much  needed  and 
very  powerful  influence  for  harmony  and  union,  and  much 
of  the  present  tendency  towards  the  union  of  different 
missions  on  the  field,  and  even  of  denominations  at  home, 
at  least  in  their  activities,  may  be  traced  to  the  presence 
of  this  factor  in  the  different  fields.  An  illustration  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  the  Martyrs*  Memorial  Committee 
of  North  China  missionaries,  having  gathered  a  fund  to 
commemorate  the  martyrs  of  the  Boxer  war,  placed  it 
with  the  Shanghai  Association  to  erect  the  auditorium  of 
its  building,  and  it  was  in  that  building  that  the  great 
centenary  of  Protestant  Missions  in  China  was  celebrated. 
The  work  has  been  extended  to  include  Japan,  Korea, 
China,  India  and  Ceylon,  Brazil,  Argentina,  Mexico, 
Cuba,  the  Philippines  and  the  Levant,  while  the  number 
of  foreign  secretaries  is  seventy-four,  distributed  as  fol- 
lows:  Japan,  six;  Korea,  four;  China,  twenty-four; 
Hongkong,  three ;  India,  eighteen  ;  Ceylon,  one ;  Bra- 
zil, three;  Argentina,  three;  Mexico,  nine;  Cuba,  two; 
Philippines,  one  ;  Levant,  one.  At  the  same  time,  fol- 
lowing the  general  principle  of  missionary  work,  a  force 
of  native  secretaries  has  been  trained,  with  the  special 
purpose  of  developing  the  associations  along  lines  that 
are  peculiarly  adapted  to  their  needs.  Thus  these  asso- 
ciations have  not  only  done  much  spiritual  work  but  have 
developed  the  departments  found  so  useful  in  this  country. 
Especially  important  has  been  the  work  among  the  young 


Young  People's  Movements  loi 

men  of  the  armies  in  Japan  and  India.  The  story  of 
the  Y.  M.  G.  A.  work  during  the  Chinese- Japanese 
war,  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  in  the  annals  of  mis- 
sionary enterprise,  as  illustrating  the  way  in  which  old- 
time  prejudices  can  be  conquered,  and  enemies  won,  if 
not  to  immediate  acceptance  of  the  Christian  faith,  at 
least  to  an  acknowledgment  of  its  power,  and  a  willingness 
to  listen  to  its  teaching.  The  letters  from  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
tents  on  the  field  were  eloquent  witnesses  to  Christian 
kindliness,  and  opened  many  a  door  hitherto  closed.  So 
too  the  Railroad  Associations  in  India  have  served  to 
reach  many,  otherwise  out  of  any  touch  with  spiritual 
things. 

The  Association  work  has  grown  rapidly  in  acceptance, 
not  only  with  native  merchants  and  professional  men, 
but  among  government  officials  and  travellers,  and  the 
latest  report  (1907)  says  that  **  whether  we  have  in  mind 
the  number  of  conversions,  the  interest  in  Bible  study, 
or  the  dedication  of  lives  to  Christian  service,  the  past 
three  years  have  witnessed  unprecedented  progress 
among  the  Associations  in  all  parts  of  the  foreign  field." 

World's  Student  Federation. — Meanwhile  other 
similar  movements  had  been  inaugurated.  There  had 
come  into  being  in  addition  to  the  American  Intercol- 
legiate Y.  M.  C.  A.  (1877),  the  British  College  Christian 
Union  (1891),  the  German  Christian  Students*  Alliance 
(1893),  the  Scandinavian  University  Christian  Move- 
ment (1895),  and  a  Student  Christian  Movement  in 
Mission  Lands.  In  August,  1895,  representatives  of 
these  movements  met  at  the  ancient  Swedish  castle  of 
Vadstena,  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Wettern,  for  the  specific 
purpose  of  uniting  in  a  great  federation,  the  national 
intercollegiate  movements  of  the  world.     The  result  was 


102  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

"The  World's  Student  Christian  Federation."  It  was 
distinctively  a  student  enterprise,  unqualifiedly  Christian  ; 
a  union  or  federation  of  student  movements,  each  pre- 
serving its  own  independence  and  individuality,  for  the 
purpose  of  "uniting  the  Christian  forces  of  all  univer- 
sities and  colleges  in  the  great  work  of  winning  the 
students  of  the  world  for  Christ,  of  building  them  up  in 
Him,  and  sending  them  out  into  the  world  to  work  for 
Him."  Gradually  various  student  organizations  were 
included.  At  the  convention  in  Williamstown,  Mass. 
(1897),  it  was  announced  that  five  others,  in  India  and 
Ceylon,  Australasia,  South  Africa,  China,  and  Japan  had 
joined,  and  at  the  last  convention  in  Tokyo  (1907),  there 
were  representatives  of  Christian  student  organizations  in 
twenty-five  countries.  Among  the  results  accomplished 
has  been  a  more  thorough  investigation  of  the  moral 
and  religious  condition  of  students  in  all  lands;  the 
promotion  of  good  feeling  between  students  of  all  nation- 
alities, leading  to  a  mighty  influence  for  international 
fellowship  and  kindly  feeling.  Perhaps  most  important 
of  all  has  been  its  direct  influence,  in  common  with  the 
movements  already  noted,  for  true  Christian  unity.  It 
has  developed  as  no  other  organization  or  movement 
probably  could,  both  the  good  and  the  weaker  points  in 
different  nationalities,  showing  where  each  may  learn  of 
the  other  and  how  all  are  bound  together  in  one  family. 
The  uniting  of  "over  100,000  students  and  professors  of 
nearly  forty  nations,  is  in  itself  significant,  but  when  it  is 
remembered  that  this  membership  is  composed  almost 
exclusively  of  educated  men,  of  those  who  are  to  be  the 
leaders  of  the  new  generation,"  the  immense  power  of 
such  an  organization  becomes  at  once  apparent. 

This  is  true  for  the  mission  fields  themselves.     It  is 


Young  People's  Movements  103 

not  less  true  for  the  Christian  lands  to  which  these 
mission  lands  owe  so  much.  It  has  been  a  mighty 
influence  for  good  for  American  and  English  and  Ger- 
man students  to  come  into  touch  with  their  fellows 
across  the  oceans,  or  in  other  continents.  Inspiration 
has  come  from  their  enthusiasm,  humility  in  view 
of  their  spirit,  and  an  affection  which  comes  close 
to  realizing  the  loving  unity  for  which  the  Master 
prayed. 

Young  People's  Missionary  Movement. — The 
success  of  the  student  work  raised  the  question  whether  it 
was  not  possible  to  enlist  for  the  mission  cause  the  same 
interest  on  the  part  of  the  great  mass  of  young  people  who 
were  willing  and  eager  to  identify  themselves  with  any 
noble  enterprise.  In  the  summer  of  1901,  a  few  Chris- 
tian workers  meeting  during  a  vacation,  deeply  impressed 
with  the  need  and  the  opportunity  in  this  line,  arranged 
for  a  general  conference  in  the  winter.  The  result  was 
the  organization  in  1902,  of  the  Young  People's  Mission- 
ary Movement.  At  first  its  efforts  were  directed  chiefly 
to  developing  missionary  interest  within  the  various 
young  people's  organizations  through  the  forming  of  mis- 
sion study  classes,  and  the  training  of  leaders  in  confer- 
ences ;  gradually  the  scope  broadened  to  include  Sunday- 
schools,  young  men's  and  young  women's  clubs  and  sim- 
ilar organizations  in  the  churches.  It  became  manifest 
also  that  the  literature  furnished  by  other  organizations 
did  not  exactly  meet  the  need  and  a  publishing  depart- 
ment developed.  From  the  beginning  the  Movement 
received  the  cordial  support  and  cooperation  of  the  dif- 
ferent boards,  and  as  the  work  enlarged  it  became  evi- 
dent that  a  more  complete  organization  was  needed,  and 
in  1907  the  Young  People's  Missionary  Movement  of  the 


104  '^^^  Missionary  Enterprise 

United  States  and  Canada  was  incorporated.  Interde- 
nominational and  international  in  its  character,  stimu- 
lating both  the  home  and  foreign  activities,  and  wholly 
under  the  direction  of  the  mission  boards,  its  whole 
task  is  to  prepare  the  literature  which  those  boards  desire 
for  their  educational  work,  and  to  train  the  leaders  by 
holding  conferences  and  institutes.  It  has  no  contact 
with  young  people's  or  other  organizations  in  the  local 
church,  makes  no  attempt  to  raise  funds  nor  to  provide 
workers  for  the  field.  A  similar  movement  has  been  in- 
augurated in  Great  Britain,  and  efforts  are  being  made 
to  develop  similar  lines  on  the  continent  of  Europe  and 
in  several  mission  fields. 

Other  Organizations. — The  Young  People's  Society 
of  Christian  Endeavour  and  the  similar  organizations,  the 
Epworth  League  in  the  Methodist  Church,  the  Baptist 
Young  People's  Union,  the  Luther  League,  etc.,  have  all 
had  a  close  relation  to  missionary  enterprise,  though  not 
in  the  direct  way  manifest  in  the  organizations  just  men- 
tioned. Formed  primarily  with  reference  to  church  life 
in  this  land,  they  soon  came  to  realize  that  mission  work 
in  one  form  or  another  is  an  essential  factor  in  that  life. 
Thus  missionary  meetings  came  to  hold  a  definite  place. 
Mission  study  classes  were  formed,  missionary  speakers 
secured.  As  church  life  developed  in  mission  lands 
there  grew  up  a  fellowship  between  kindred  societies  or- 
ganized there  and  the  home  societies,  resulting  in  mutual 
help  and  a  quasi  federation,  not  as  close  as  that  of  the 
students  yet  in  its  sphere  not  less  useful.  An  important 
factor  has  been  the  numerous  visits  of  the  founder  of  the 
Endeavour  Society,  Dr.  F.  E.  Clark,  to  the  countries 
where  mission  work  is  carried  on.  A  recent  visit  to 
South  America  has  been  a  service  of  ecumenical  interest, 


Young  People's  Movements  105 

while  other  visits  to  Africa,  Australia,  as  well  as  to  Asia, 
have  thrown  a  light  upon  the  missionary  work,  and 
stimulated  the  desire  for  missionary  information.  These 
societies  have  also  had  no  little  influence  in  the  line  of 
systematic  gifts  to  missions.  There  are  similar  organiza- 
tions in  England,  notably  in  connection  with  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  but  they  have  not  had  the  same 
development  there  as  in  America. 

Laymen's  Missionary  Movement. — Women,  stu- 
dents, young  people,  being  thus  provided  for,  there  re- 
mained one  class,  whom  the  mission  cause  had  as  yet 
failed  to  secure ;  the  adult  laymen  of  the  church.  These 
men,  the  initiators  and  guiders  of  great  enterprises  and 
industries,  who  hold  the  purse  strings  of  the  country's 
enormous  resources,  were  still  for  the  most  part  unreached. 
With  some  notable  exceptions,  they  gave  little,  and 
seemed  to  care  less  for  the  success  of  the  work  of  evangel- 
izing the  world.  Much  had  been  hoped  for  from  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Student  Movement,  and  there  was 
a  young  men's  department  in  the  Young  People's  Mis- 
sionary Movement,  but  in  the  immediate  stress  of  the 
hour  the  leaders  in  missions  were  unwilling  to  wait  for 
these  young  men  to  grow.  They  felt  that  they  must  reach 
the  mature  men,  now.  Some  wealthy  men  in  the  Presby- 
terian Church  had,  since  1898,  interested  themselves  in  this 
line,  but  in  1907  a  distinct  Laymen's  Missionary  Move- 
ment was  organized,  somewhat  along  the  lines  of  the 
Young  People's  Missionary  Movement,  though  without 
some  of  the  attendant  sub-organizations  for  publication, 
study  classes,  etc.  Several  conferences  were  held,  in  dif- 
ferent cities,  the  general  organization  being  effected  in 
New  York  City  in  February,  1907.  One  immediate  re- 
sult was  the  arranging  for  delegations  of  business  men  to 


io6  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

visit  the  mission  fields,  study  the  actual  working  of  mis- 
sions and  report  on  its  efficiency. 

Need  of  Deputations. — The  value  of  this  has  been 
manifest  with  each  year  of  mission  work.  As  travel  has 
become  easier,  and  the  different  sections  of  the  world 
have  been  drawn  closer  together  there  has  been  an  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  general  travellers.  These  have 
for  the  most  part  confined  their  travels  to  the  large  cities 
where  they  have  come  in  contact  with  resident  foreigners, 
and  have  seen  very  little  of  missionary  work.  These 
residents  have  not  been  generally  of  a  class  interested  in 
religious  matters.  Far  removed  from  the  restraints  of 
home,  a  very  large  proportion  have  lived  lives  against 
which  the  missionary  work  was  a  constant,  if  mute,  pro- 
test. When  this  was  not  the  case,  the  engrossment  of 
business  life  shut  out  spiritual  things,  and  especially,  the 
contact  with  a  certain  class  of  natives  was  not  encourag- 
ing. Many  a  man  has  affirmed  in  all  sincerity,  that  an 
honest  Chinese  or  Japanese  was  a  contradiction  in  terms, 
and  if  they  professed  themselves  Christians  it  was  for  the 
sake  of  missionary  employment  or  assistance.  Such  tes- 
timonies, coming  from  men  who  claimed  to  be  impartial, 
and  anxious  only  for  the  facts,  undoubtedly  had  weight, 
and  explained,  to  a  degree,  the  wide-spread  lack  of  inter- 
est in,  if  not  positive  distrust  of,  all  mission  work.  To 
meet  this  and  be  able  to  convince  the  business  men  of 
America,  that  the  foreign  missionary  enterprise  is  not  a 
vague,  impracticable  scheme  of  good -hearted  but  un- 
wise visionaries,  it  was  felt  that  no  method  would  be  so 
effective  as  to  secure  the  positive  testimony  of  business 
men.  Exceptionally  fine  opportunities  were  offered  by 
the  gathering  of  the  Centenary  Conference  at  Shanghai, 
and  the  Convention  of  the  World's  Student  Federation  at 


Young  People's  Movements  107 

Tokyo.  A  large  number  of  well-known  business  men  of 
different  denominations  went  to  these  meetings,  and  since 
their  return  have  borne  earnest  and  eloquent  witness  to 
the  substantial  quality  of  the  work  done.  Other  deputa- 
tions are  planned,  and  the  result,  it  is  confidently  ex- 
pected, will  be  a  great  increase  of  practical  interest  in 
the  work. 

Missionary  Literature. — One  special  result  of  all 
these  movements  should  be  noted,  the  marvellous  in- 
crease in  missionary  literature.  The  Student  and  Young 
People's  Movements  have  each  their  educational  depart- 
ment out  of  which  has  grown  a  publishing  house,  while  of 
general  literature  the  supply  is  far  beyond  what  most 
realize.  The  number  of  volumes  of  the  text-books,  par- 
ticularly those  of  the  Women's  Boards,  prepared  by  a 
joint  committee  have  been  among  the  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands; taking  them  and  those  of  the  Young  People's  and 
Student  Volunteer  Movements,  the  number  put  forth 
within  the  past  six  years  can  scarcely  be  less  than  a  mil- 
lion of  copies.  The  time  has  gone  by  when  only  a  cer- 
tain class  of  religious  publishers  invested  in  missionary 
manuscripts.  They  find  a  ready  market  and  are  an  ap- 
preciable influence  in  the  general  book  world.  Parallel 
with  these  has  been  the  development  of  missionary 
periodicals.  From  mere  chronicles,  they  have  become 
carefully  edited  journals,  full  of  valuable  information, 
attractively  presented  on  almost  every  phase  of  life  in 
mission  lands. 


VIII 
THE  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 

THROUGH  the  preceding  chapters  the  terms 
society  and  board  have  been  used,  to  describe 
the  associations  in  Christian  lands  for  the  con- 
duct of  missions  in  other  lands.  They  need,  perhaps, 
somewhat  of  definition  or  description.  To  many  not 
familiar  with  them  in  their  detail  and  their  history,  they 
seem  very  elaborate  even  artificial  organisms,  which 
have  somehow  come  into  existence,  and  which  appear  to 
absorb  an  undue  amount  of  both  energy  and  means. 
In  truth  they  mark  the  normal  development  of  hiissionary 
interest  and  activity. 

As  has  been  already  noted,  there  was  little  or  no  or- 
ganization in  the  early  work  of  missions.  Individuals 
went  where  they  pleased,  worked  as  they  pleased,  and 
were  supported  in  different  ways — some  by  the  labour  of 
their  own  hands,  some  by  the  gifts  of  the  people  to  whom 
they  went,  some  by  the  churches  or  communities  that 
sent  them.  It  does  not  follow  that  the  work  was  hap- 
hazard;  it  was  not,  but  was  characterized  by  careful 
consideration  on  the  part  of  those  competent  to  judge. 
It  was,  however,  to  a  very  great  degree  a  free  work. 
The  world  was  wide ;  the  labourers  were  few ;  there  was 
great  opportunity,  and  little  chance  for  friction.  Mis- 
sionaries, too,  being  workers  among  a  people  of  much  the 
same  manner  of  life,  the  distinctions  inevitable  to-day 
were  absolutely  unknown  then. 

io8 


The  Missionary  Society  109 

Early  Efforts. — As  the  Church  became  better  or- 
ganized itself,  it  followed  naturally  that  it  should  take  up 
its  aggressive  work  in  a  somewhat  more  systematic  way. 
From  the  centers  of  Christian  life  the  bishops  and  popes 
looked  out  over  the  world,  saw  the  need  of  communities 
or  openings  for  work,  and  there  followed  the  selection 
and  commission  of  workers.  Still  there  was  little  that 
could  be  called  organization.  Enthusiastic  preachers 
went  forth  from  the  missionary  schools  of  the  earlier 
centuries  and  from  the  monasteries  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
but  their  efforts  were  after  all  chiefly  individual,  a  sort 
of  proselytizing  crusade  rather  than  regularly  planned 
work.  As  the  monastic  orders  grew  in  strength  they 
systematized  their  foreign  labours  more  and  more,  and 
the  founders  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  on  this 
Continent,  as  well  as  the  great  missionary  Francis  Xavier, 
went  out  under  definite  instructions  and  with  regular 
plans. 

The  early  Protestant  endeavours  were  either  personal 
in  their  character,  as  the  Danish  Tamil  Mission  under  the 
patronage  of  King  Frederick  IV ;  general  agencies,  like 
the  New  England  Company,  or  ecclesiastical  committees 
like  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel.  The 
Moravian  Church,  a  sort  of  Missionary  Committee  of  the 
Whole,  was  and  is  unique  in  its  form. 

Organization.— The  modern  conception  of  a  mis- 
sionary society — an  association  of  persons,  voluntary  or 
representing  an  ecclesiastical  body,  for  the  purpose  of 
general  missionary  enterprise — appears  to  have  originated 
with  the  company  of  Baptist  ministers  who,  in  1792, 
pledged  themselves  to  the  support  of  Carey  as  he  started 
out  on  his  work.  Their  organization  was  very  simple 
and  was  primarily  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  the  funds 


no  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

necessary  to  defray  the  cost  of  travelling  and  of  living 
on  the  field.  The  resolutions  adopted  expressed  the 
general  purpose  of  the  society  to  be  the  "  propagation  of 
the  gospel  among  the  heathen,"  and  the  immediate  pur- 
pose the  collection  of  subscriptions  to  meet  the  expense. 
The  membership  of  the  society  included  persons  con- 
tributing ^lo  ($50)  at  one  time  or  los.  6d.  ($2.62) 
annually.  The  thirteen  ministers  present  made  their 
subscriptions,  a  secretary  was  chosen  and  the  organiza- 
tion was  complete.  Equally  simple  was  the  form  of  the 
other  societies  as  they  came  into  being.  There  was  no 
more  machinery  than  was  absolutely  necessary  to  accom- 
plish the  purpose,  which  was  twofold,  the  arousing  of  the 
sympathy  of  the  Church  and  the  raising  of  the  funds 
needed  for  the  conduct  of  the  work  on  the  field. 

Expansion. — As  the  work  extended,  it  became  neces- 
sary to  enlarge  the  scope  and  increase  the  labours  of  the 
society  at  home.  Volunteers  for  missionary  service  pre- 
sented themselves.  It  was  neither  possible  nor  advisable 
to  send  all  who  offered.  There  must  be  some  selection. 
Such  selection  involved  accurate  knowledge  of  the  work 
to  be  done  and  an  adaptation  of  the  material  offered  to 
the  differing  needs  of  the  fields.  There  were  also  ques- 
tions in  regard  to  the  extension  of  work,  the  places  to  be 
chosen  from  among  the  number  presenting  themselves. 
With  further  development  came  the  necessity  of  arrang- 
ing some  lines  of  missionary  policy.  After  making  all 
due  allowance  for  difference  of  circumstances,  it  was 
evident  that  there  must  be  a  general  uniformity  of 
method.  While  there  was  every  disposition  to  allow 
sufficient  scope  for  individual  enterprise,  and  no  desire 
to  lay  down  unbending  rules  of  action,  it  was  clear  that 
individual  missionaries  could  not  be  allowed  unlimited 


The  Missionary  Society  1 1 1 

license  in  carrying  out  any  new  ideas  that  might  occur 
to  them  as  advantageous.  There  was  also  a  great  desire 
to  know  what  methods  had  received  the  indorsement  of 
success.  Could  the  missionary  in  China  learn  anything 
from  the  success  or  failure  of  his  brother  in  India  ?  There 
must  be  some  means  found  for  taking  into  careful  considera- 
tion the  various  experiences  and  suggestions,  and  dedu- 
cing from  them  some  principles  that  should  be  of  value  to 
all  in  every  field.  Among  the  topics  which  thus  came  up 
were  the  formation  of  native  churches ;  the  education  of 
a  native  ministry ;  the  employment  of  paid  teachers  and 
•  helpers ;  the  extent  to  which  native  prejudice  and  super- 
stition should  be  regarded  ;  the  location  of  missionaries ; 
salaries ;  furloughs ;  the  proportion  of  time  to  be  given 
to  secular  education ;  and  so  on  through  a  long  list  of 
questions  which  come  up  in  every  mission  enterprise. 

On  the  home  side  the  demands  grew  at  an  almost 
equal  rate.  As  the  number  of  missions  and  missionaries 
increased  a  proportionate  increase  in  the  funds  for  their 
support  became  necessary.  This  involved  systematic 
application  to  the  contributing  churches.  Those  who 
gave  wanted  to  know  what  was  done  with  their  money, 
and  those  who  had  friends  on  the  mission  field  were 
anxious  to  hear  of  their  welfare.  All  looked  to  the  mis- 
sionary society.  Without  going  more  into  detail,  it  is 
evident  that  the  present  organizations,  with  their  ap- 
parently large  force  of  secretaries,  clerks,  members  of 
committees,  etc.,  did  not  spring  into  being  at  once,  but 
were  the  natural  result  of  the  effort  to  meet  the  demands 
made  upon  those  who  at  home  must  provide  for  and  di- 
rect the  great  work  of  the  Church  in  foreign  lands. 

The  Board. — So  far  as  the  actual  conduct  of  the 
work   is   concerned,   the   management  of  the  societies, 


112  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

whether  in  America,  England,  Europe  or  elsewhere,  is 
very  similar.  In  almost  every  case  there  is  an  executive 
board  consisting  of  men  or  women  who  give  their 
services  free  of  charge  and  meet  at  regular  intervals  for 
the  transaction  of  the  affairs  of  the  society,  and  executive 
officers,  including  secretaries  and  treasurers,  who  re- 
ceive salaries  and  give  their  whole  time  to  the  detail 
work.  There  are  a  few  societies,  employing  a  compara- 
tively small  number  of  missionaries,  whose  executive 
officers  receive  no  pay,  carrying  on  the  work  in  con- 
nection with  other  duties;  and  others,  some  of  consider- 
able size,  which  so  apportion  the  responsibility  of  the 
work  on  the  field,  that  the  duties  of  the  home  office  are 
chiefly  confined  to  furnishing  information  and  the  raising 
of  funds. 

Membership. — In  their  general  organization,  so  far  as 
it  has  been  influenced  by  their  relation  to  their  support- 
ing constituencies,  they  differ  widely.  The  earlier 
societies  were  practically  unlimited  in  their  membership. 
Any  contributor  of  a  specified  amount,  whatever  his 
denomination,  could  be  classed  as  a  member  and  vote 
at  the  general  meetings  at  which  the  executive  board 
was  chosen.  That  is  still  the  form  of  the  London  Mis- 
sionary and  the  Bible  and  Tract  Societies,  and  most  of 
the  special  organizations.  As  the  denominational  spirit 
increased,  the  membership  in  the  societies  became 
practically  restricted  to  members  of  the  supporting 
churches,  and  in  some  cases  this  was  included  in  their 
constitutions.  There  was  still  little  of  ecclesiastical 
control,  the  individual  element  being  emphasized. 
Thus,  the  two  great  Anglican  Societies,  the  Society  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  and  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary  Society   are    independent    of   the   ecclesiastical 


The  Missionary  Society  1 1 3 

authorities,  though  their  membership  is  limited  to  that 
Church. 

The  American  Board,  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  the  Paris  Evangelical  Society,  the  Basel, 
the  Berlin,  and  most  of  the  free  societies  in  Europe  are 
practically  close  corporations,  vacancies  only  being  filled, 
and  there  is  no  restriction  as  to  the  denominational 
connection  of  the  elected  members,  although  in  some 
custom  has  brought  about  a  church  limitation. 

Denominational  Types. — With  the  still  further 
emphasis  on  the  church  life,  there  appeared  the  con- 
ception of  the  Church  as  a  Church  doing  its  work. 
There  is  a  slight  difference  in  the  statement  but  the 
principle  is  the  same. 

The  Methodist  societies  of  this  country  and  Great 
Britain  are  the  direct  creation  of  the  highest  ecclesiastical 
authority  in  the  different  bodies,  and  are  answerable  to 
them,  but  once  constituted  are  practically  independent  in 
their  action.  In  the  Presbyterian  denominations  and 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States 
the  theory  is  that  the  boards  are  really  "the  Church" 
acting  through  a  certain  number  of  persons  made  into  a 
corporate  body  merely  for  convenience  and  in  order  to 
satisfy  legal  requirements  as  to  the  holding  of  property,  etc. 
Tliis  is,  too,  the  conception  that  rules  in  the  State  Churches 
of  Europe,  and  the  Lutheran  Churches  in  the  United 
States.  The  theory  is  carried  out  with  different  degrees 
of  insistence  in  different  branches,  but  in  general  the 
Presbyterian  and  Reformed  boards  are  the  executive 
committees  for  foreign  missions  of  the  various  General 
Assemblies,  or  Synods.  In  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  the  constitution  of  the  Domestic  and  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  provides   that  it  shall  comprehend 


1 1  4  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

"all  persons  who  are  members"  of  that  Church.  The 
society  itself  is  the  executive  form  of  the  Church. 

This,  it  is  evident,  is  essentially  the  same  as  the 
theory  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  so  far  as  the 
society  is  concerned.  The  difference  lies  in  the 
diametrically  opposite  views  as  to  the  Church.  In  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  it  is  the  hierarchy;  the 
individual  member  has  no  share  or  responsibility.  In 
the  Protestant  Churches,  the  total  of  responsibility  rests 
with  the  individual  members  of  the  Church,  and  by  a 
system  of  delegated  authority  each  such  member  has 
not  merely  an  interest  in  the  work  of  the  Church  but  a 
vote  in  its  management.  This  last  view  has  been  rapidly 
gaining  ground,  even  among  the  denominations  that 
emphasize  most  earnestly  the  principle  of  individual 
responsibility.  The  American  Board  has  steadily  en- 
larged its  corporate  membership,  and  at  the  same  time 
made  provision  for  delegate  membership.  The  same 
tendency  is  manifest  in  the  Baptist  boards,  though  in  a 
somewhat  different  way,  to  meet  the  different  con- 
ditions. Their  membership  being  already  restricted  to 
the  denomination,  but  within  those  bounds  unlimited, 
there  is  arising  a  desire  to  have  the  activities  of  the 
churches  controlled  by  the  churches,  rather  than  by 
mere  individualism. 

Administration. — Within  these  general  lines,  there 
has  been  a  great  variety  of  special  forms,  the  trend  being  in 
almost  every  case  towards  some  sort  of  representative 
government  of  the  societies.  In  many  cases  where  they 
started  in  the  extreme  of  individualism,  the  representative 
system  has  become  well  established.  A  notable  instance 
is  found  in  the  two  denominations  known  as  Christians 
and  Disciples  of  Christ.     In   their  origin,  both  empha- 


The  Missionary  Society  115 

sized  the  individual  church  so  strongly  that  they 
scarcely  allowed  fellowship  of  the  churches.  Delegated 
representatives  of  those  churches  meet  at  stated  intervals, 
and  elect  persons  to  conduct  their  missionary  operations 
for  them,  until  the  next  meeting.  On  the  other  hand 
the  independent  societies  "have  been  alrnost  forced  to 
seek  for  constituencies.  Thus  the  Bible  and  Tract 
Societies  are  constantly  before  the  various  ecclesiastical 
bodies,  to  secure  their  endorsement  as  really  their 
representatives  in  a  particular  type  of  work.  The 
Christian  and  Missionary  Alliance,  a  purely  missionary 
society  with  no  ecclesiastical  or  even  church  relations, 
has  established  its  branches  all  over  the  country,  and  in 
very  many  cases  these  branches  have  developed  into 
churches,  which,  while  avowing  absolute  independence, 
are  becoming  more  and  more  closely  affiliated  if  not 
associated,  in  support  of  what  is  practically  the  parent 
society.  Probably  the  most  loosely  conducted  mission- 
ary work  is  that  of  the  Plymouth  Brethren.  They  not 
only  refuse  to  recognize  any  missionary  society,  but 
have  no  definite  ecclesiastical  organization.  Their  mis- 
sionaries have  gone  into  every  portion  of  the  mission 
world  and  conducted  their  work,  often  so  quietly  that 
their  very  existence  has  scarcely  been  known  until  they 
had  gone  and  the  little  company  they  had  gathered  re- 
mained to  emphasize  their  separativeness  from  others. 
Some  have  done  a  notable  work,  as  Groves,  the  first 
missionary  to  Bagdad,  who  was  afterwards  associated  in 
counsel  if  not  in  organization,  with  Duff  and  other 
leaders  in  India ;  F.  S.  Arnot  of  Garenganze,  in  Africa, 
and  many  more  who  have  gone  into  distant  places. 

With    some    similar    exceptions,    the    trend    of    the 
missionary  society  has  been  everywhere  to  identification 


li6  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

with  some  ecclesiastical  body,  and  to  act  as  its  agent  or 
exponent  in  the  conduct  of  its  missionary  enterprise. 

Denominationalism  Emphasized. — The  result  of 
this  trend  has  been  primarily  in  many  cases  to  emphasize 
denominational  ambitions,  with  the  not  infrequent  result 
of  occasioning  denominational  rivalries  and  collisions. 
Ultimately,  however,  it  has  proven  a  mighty  power  for 
denominational  cooperation  and  church  harmony,  even 
church  union.  As  missions  of  different  societies  were 
established  in  the  same  field,  it  was  inevitable  that  there 
should  be  rivalry  and  in  some  cases  even  serious  inter- 
ference. Perhaps  the  most  notable  instance  was  that  fur- 
nished by  Japan  (see  chapter  on  Japan).  At  one  time 
there  were  seventeen  societies  at  work  in  Tokyo.  Each 
presented  its  claim  for  funds  to  its  constituents  with  all 
the  vigour  possible,  and  in  most  cases  the  general  impres- 
sion left  was  that,  if  that  particular  mission  was  not  sup- 
ported, the  capital  of  Japan  would  remain  unevangelized. 
The  absurdity  of  this  was  soon  apparent,  particularly  in 
so  prominent  a  place,  and  it  was  not*  long  before  the 
societies  realized  that  some  arrangement  for  cooperation 
must  be  made. 

Lay  Element. — The  first  step  was  the  introduc- 
tion into  the  directorates  of  the  societies  of  a  different 
system  of  election  and  in  some  cases,  if  the  term  may  be 
used,  of  a  more  non-ecclesiastical  lay  element.  It  is  a  mis- 
take to  suppose  that  ecclesiasticism  is  confined  to  the 
ministry.  There  are  laymen  who  are  far  more  hier- 
archical than  the  average  clergyman,  more  anxious  for 
the  advance  of  the  Church  as  a  Church,  and  once  settled 
in  ecclesiastical  ruts  it  is  harder  for  them  to  change. 
That  a  thing  has  once  been  done  successfully  is  in  itself 
sufficient  reason  why  it  should  be  repeated.     If  an  exper- 


The  Missionary  Society  117 

iment  has  once  failed,  it  has  failed  for  all  time,  no  matter 
how  conditions  may  have  changed.  There  was  a  con- 
siderable element  of  this  type  in  the  societies,  whose  in- 
fluence was  increased  by  the  fact  of  its  permanency. 
The  ministerial  element,  through  changes  of  pastorates, 
constantly  varied.  The .  lay  element  remained,  and 
being  reelected  year  after  year  came  to  feel  a  sort  of 
proprietary  right  in  the  preservation  of  the  old  order.  As 
the  demands  for  the  support  of  missions  became  more  in- 
sistent, they  attracted  the  attention  of  a  different  type  of 
laymen,  men  who  in  the  conduct  of  their  own  business 
had  no  reverence  for  a  system  because  it  was  old,  and 
were  eager  for  new  experiments.  ,  The  result  was  the  gen- 
eral adoption,  in  the  organization  of  the  boards,  of  time 
limits,  by  which  there  was  a  constant  infusion  of  new 
blood.  Undoubtedly  this  had  its  disadvantages.  Not  a 
few  men  who  had  made  fortunes  in  business,  were  elected 
to  the  boards  on  the  assumption  that  the  same  qualities 
that  made  a  man  successful  in  manufacturing  or  mer- 
cantile lines,  would  fit  them  for  a  mission  enterprise, 
which  is  not  always  true.  Still  the  general  effect  has 
been  good,  and  the  mission  board  of  to-day  will  compare 
very  favourably,  to  say  the  least,  with  the  directorates  of 
business  corporations. 

General  Conferences. — The  second  result  was  the 
adoption  of  a  general  system  of  conferences.  However 
eager  they  were  for  the  prosperity  of  their  own  enterprises, 
the  officers  and  directors  of  the  societies  were  earnest 
Christian  men  who  looked  upon  their  office  as  a  divine 
trust,  to  be  used  for  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Economy  of  funds,  of  labour,  were  in  their  view 
prime  elements  in  the  fulfillment  of  this  trust.  To  secure 
this  it  was  essential  that  each  should  have  the  benefit  of 


Ii8  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

the  experience  of  others.  Other  influences  also  were  felt, 
the  demand  for  more  of  cooperation  and  less  clashing  on 
the  field,  as  well  as  the  growth  of  the  sentiment  of  church 
union. 

There  had  been  a  number  of  conferences,  but  they 
were  inspirational  rather  than  executive.  In^the  spring 
of  1854,  on  the  occasion  of  Dr.  Dufl^'s  visit  to  America, 
there  was  a  Union  Missionary  Convention,  held  in  New 
York,  followed  by  one  in  London  ^in  the  fall  of  that 
year.  The  next  was  in  Liverpool,  i860,  but  there  was 
no  other  until  1878,  when  one  was  held  in  Mildmay, 
London.  That  was  so  successful  that  it  was  adopted  as 
a  general  principle  that  there  should  be  one  every  decade. 
In  accordance  with  this,  one  was  held  in  London  in  1888, 
and  the  twentieth  century  was  ushered  in  by  the  Ecumen- 
ical Conference  on  Foreign  Missions  in  New  York  City 
in  the  spring  of  1900.  The  chief  result  of  these  confer- 
ences, so  far  as  the  societies  themselves  were  concerned, 
was  that  they  were  brought  into  closer  contact,  with  the 
result  of  greater  fellowship,  and  the  recognition  of  mutual 
aims,  needs  and  methods.  Differences  were  crowded 
out  of  sight  by  the  great  unity  of  the  work;  denomi- 
national rivalries  waned  ;  Christian  unity  appeared  more 
prominent.  The  one  drawback  was  that  even  this  great 
company  of  Christian  workers,  each  recognizing  the 
other's  sincerity  and  devotion,  could  not  lay  aside  certain 
dogmas  and  meet  together  around  the  Lord's  table  in 
communion  service.  Two  other  results,  of  prime  impor- 
tance, were  achieved.  The  Church  as  a  whole  had  an  ob- 
ject-lesson of  the  magnitude  of  the  mission  enterprise, 
the  great  force  engaged  in  it,  and  the  magnificent  results 
already  secured.  The  non-missionary  world  was  also 
forced  to  take  note  of  the  same  facts,  and  the  eff"ect  upon 


The  Missionary  Society  119 

individuals,  communities  and  even  governments  was 
most  marked.  Since  then  as  never  before  has  the  work 
of  missions  been  recognized  as  a  useful  as  well  as  a  posi- 
tive, aggressive  force  in  the  world. 

Cooperation. — Meanwhile  another  movement  had 
started  along  somewhat  similar  lines,  less  spectacular  but 
in  some  respects  more  effective  for  securing  the  maximum 
of  efficiency  on  the  part  of  the  societies,  with  the  minimum 
of  waste  and  expense.  Largely  under  the  influence  of 
the  demands  from  the  foreign  field  and  the  needs  of  home 
mission  churches,  there  had  arisen  in  several  of  the 
families  of  denominations,  movements  for  cooperation 
and  federation,  with  the  ultimate  hope  of  organic  union. 
Chief  among  these  was  The  Alliance  of  Reformed 
Churches  holding  the  Presbyterian  System,  first  organized 
in  1875,  ^^^  which  had  gradually  gathered  strength  and 
influence.  In  1893  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Council  of 
the  Western  Section,  the  representatives  of  the  various 
Presbyterian  foreign  missionary  boards  met  for  a  con- 
ference in  New  York  City,  largely  under  the  influence  of  a 
few  laymen  ;  a  number  of  other  missionary  societies  were 
invited  to  a  similar  conference,  which  was  to  immediately 
follow.  The  sessions  of  each  conference  lasted  through  a 
single  day.  The  topics  in  the  general  conference  had  to 
do  with  the  development  of  spiritual  power  both  at  home 
and  on  the  field,  and  the  relative  importance  of  evangelistic 
work.  The  next  year  another  conference  was  held,  with 
a  series  of  topics  touching  still  more  closely  the  actual 
needs  of  administration,  such  as  self-support  of  native 
churches,  the  qualifications  of  candidates,  etc. 

Annual  Conference. — From  this  time  on  this  An- 
nual Conference  of  the  Foreign  Mission  Boards  of  the 
United   States   and   Canada  has  been  one  of  the  most 


120  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

valued  factors  in  the  conduct  of  mission  work.  Each  so- 
ciety has  brought  to  the  discussions  its  own  experiences, 
its  own  questions,  and  all  together  have  considered  what 
would  best  advance  the  interests  that  all  had  at  heart. 
Mutual  acquaintance  has  strengthened  mutual  respect 
and  confidence.  There  has  been  no  fear  of  holding  to 
honest  convictions  or  lack  of  courtesy  in  recognizing  di- 
vergence of  views,  but  out  of  it  all  have  developed  wiser 
counsels,  broader  views,  and  more  united  action.  The 
single  day  session  increased  to  two  days  and  that 
time  even  is  found  to  be  all  too  short  for  the  subjects 
that  demand  earnest  attention.  It  was  this  conference 
that  had  in  charge  the  Ecumenical  Conference  of  1900, 
already  referred  to,  when  for  ten  days,  the  largest  audi- 
torium in  New  York  City  was  packed  to  the  doors,  while 
overflow  meetings  were  held  in  several  of  the  neighbour- 
ing churches.  Among  the  various  influences  tending  to- 
wards Christian  fellowship  in  the  foreign  missionary  en- 
terprise, and  the  most  effective  means  of  carrying  it  on, 
probably  there  is  no  one  that  is  stronger  than  this  annual 
conference.  Partly  as  the  outcome  of  these  conferences 
of  the  boards,  there  has  grown  up  a  system  of  confer- 
ences, in  which  the  different  boards  meet  with  new  ap- 
pointees and  those  returning  to  their  fields  of  labour  for 
a  period  of  mutual  advantage ;  these  have  been  most 
helpful  in  a  great  variety  of  ways. 

International  Missionary  Union.— The  great  stu- 
dent conventions  have  been  a  mighty  power,  but 
reference  here  may  be  made  to  one  of  a  somewhat  differ- 
ent type,  where  missionaries  meet  for  a  week  to  review 
past  experiences,  learn  of  present  conditions,  and  take  an 
outlook  on  the  future.  The  International  Missionary 
Union,  founded  by  Dr.  J.  T.  Gracey  in  1883,  has  con- 


The  Missionary  Society  121 

tributed  no  small  share  to  the  increasing  power  of  the 
bond  of  fellowship  and  union  in  mission  work,  while  its 
sessions  at  Clifton  Springs  Sanitarium,  have  been  a  de- 
light and  refreshment  to  all. 

Women's  Work. — Reference  has  already  been  made 
to  the  growth  of  the  different  forms  of  Women's  Mission- 
ary Societies.  In  their  organization  these  have  varied 
considerably.  Such  as  are  independent  are  conducted 
on  much  the  same  principles  as  the  denominational  boards 
or  societies.  Usually,  however,  they  are  practically 
aid  societies,  for  the  collection  of  funds,  usually  for  specific 
lines  of  work,  under  the  general  direction  of  the  larger 
organizations.  Rarely  they  have  commissioned  and  lo- 
cated their  own  missionaries.  Within  the  last  decade 
there  has  been  an  increasing  feeling  that  the  time  of  their 
usefulness  as  separate  organizations  is  passing,  and  in 
the  interest  of  economy  of  administration  and  efficiency 
of  work  there  should  no  longer  be  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  two  departments,  and  that  the  work  for  women 
should  be  represented  on  the  general  boards  by  women. 
This  has  already  been  done  in  the  English  Society  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  subject  is  being 
agitated  in  regard  to  other  boards,  as  in  line  with  the 
general  desire  for  the  reduction  of  administrative  ex- 
pense. ' 

Administrative  Expenditure. — This  question  of  ad- 
ministrative expense  has  occasioned  no  little  discussion, 
with  very  varied  statements,  most  of  them  very  wide  of 
the  mark.  All  sorts  of  tables  have  been  presented  show- 
ing the  percentage  of  total  income  expended  in  the  con- 
duct of  the  societies.  A  popular  claim  has  been  made  that 
"  it  costs  a  dollar  to  send  a  dollar,"  and  in  reply  it  is 
shown  that  the  different  societies  expend  variously  from 


122  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

five  to  eleven  per  cent,  on  their  administration.  The  fal- 
lacy of  any  such  figures  appears  the  moment  they  are 
analyzed.  No  two  societies  conduct  their  work  in  just 
the  same  way,  and  consequently  no  two  agree  in  the 
items  on  which  the  percentage  is  based.  Again  there  is 
great  variety  of  view  as  to  the  relation  the  society  holds, 
on  the  one  hand  to  the  churches  at  home,  on  the  other 
to  the  mission  on  the  field,  with  an  inevitable  variety  in 
the  size  of  administrative  force  employed.  As  a  rule, 
each  society  has  accorded  its  system  to  the  conditions  of 
the  supporting  constituency  and  the  character  of  its  work 
on  the  field.  Especially  within  the  past  few  years,  there 
has  been  very  careful  and  thorough  study  of  the  situa- 
tion, and  wholesale  comparisons  are  generally  based  upon 
imperfect  knowledge. 

Complex  Duties. — The  missionary  society  has  also 
not  escaped  the  general  cry  for  consolidation,  centraliza- 
tion of  authority  and,  as  it  has  been  claimed,  consequent 
increased  efficiency.  So  far  the  foreign  administrative 
boards  have  been  less  affected  than  those  concerned  with 
home  evangelization.  One  reason  has  perhaps  been,  the 
very  varied  duties  of  a  foreign  missionary  society  : — a 
vast  employment  agency  ;  a  publishing  house,  the  com- 
peer of  the  great  firms  of  our  cities ;  a  trust  company 
handling  large  sums  of  money,  only  a  portion  of  which 
is  for  its  own  work ;  a  purchasing  agency ;  a  relief 
commission;  a  board  of  education,  medical  aid  and 
general  philanthropy ;  a  social  reform  bureau  ;  a  bureau 
of  information,  scientific,  archeological,  ethnological,  po- 
litical, as  well  as  religious  ;  all  these  and  much  more,  in 
addition  to,  and  subsidiary  to,  its  main  purpose  of  ex- 
tending the  knowledge  of  salvation  in  Jesus  Christ. 
To  centralize  such  a  complex  administration,  as  the  busi- 


The  Missionary  Society  123 

ness  of  a  life  insurance  company  can  be  centralized,  in 
one  head,  has  been  considered  scarcely  feasible.  And 
when  to  all  this  is  added  the  fact  that  all  the  large  so- 
cieties deal  not  with  one  race,  but  with  many  races, 
totally  different  from  each  other,  the  absolute  necessity 
of  much  the  same  plans  as  are  employed,  and  the  use  of 
much  the  same  means,  becomes  apparent.  In  no  one 
department  of  activity,  religious  or  secular,  has  the  wisdom 
and  economy  of  a  wise  but  generous  expenditure  in  ad- 
ministration been  more  apparent. 

Honoured  Workers. — The  largest,  most  aggressive, 
most  influential  -  societies  have  always  been  those, 
whether  in  England,  Germany  or  the  United  States,  that 
have  enlisted  in  their  active  service  the  largest  number  of 
able  men,  men  for  whom  the  position  offered  by  the  so- 
ciety was  in  a  very  real  sense  as  true  a  sacrifice  as  that  of 
most  who  go  to  the  foreign  field.  It  is  right  to  pay  all 
honour  to  those  who  at  the  front  are  bearing  the  burden 
of  the  day ;  but  not  less  important  a  part  is  played  by 
those  who  in  the  heat  and  stress  of  the  strenuous  life  of 
the  West,  hold  up  the  hands  of  those  on  the  field. 
While  the  names  of  Carey,  Morrison,  Paton,  Judson, 
Gordon  Hall,  Perkins,  Bingham,  Hannington  and  a  host 
of  others  are  well  remembered  ;  close  beside  them  must 
remain  those  of  Venix  and  Haweis,  Andrew  Fuller, 
Chalmers,  Dr.  Worcester,  Rufus  Anderson,  Leighton 
Wilson,  F.  F.  Ellinwood  and  many  more,  without  whom 
the  efforts  of  the  pioneers  would  have  availed  little. 

Faith-Power. — Here  too  it  is  well  to  call  attention  to 
the  dominance  of  a  robust  and  earnest  faith,  in  the  con- 
duct of  these  societies.  It  has  been  the  moving  power 
in  all.  In  none  perhaps  has  it  been  more  conspicuous, 
than  in  the  history  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society 


1  24  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

(C.  M.  S.)  of  England.  In  1 841-2  the  society  faced 
au  alarming  financial  crisis,  but  taking  the  ground  that 
in  God's  work  they  should  go  forward,  not  backward, 
were  able  the  next  year  to  report  a  largely  increased 
income.  A  decade  later,  when  a  committee  announced 
that  it  was  "  not  to  aim  at  occupying  with  more  talents 
than  God  in  His  wisdom  has  been  pleased  to  dispense," 
the  answer  was  made  that  the  "talents"  God  gives  a 
missionary  society  are  "men,"  not  "  money,"  and  if  He 
sends  the  men  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  He  will 
send  the  money  for  their  support.  So  it  was  declared  to 
be  the  policy  of  the  society  "  to  accept  any  number  of 
true  missionaries,  who  may  appear  to  be  called  of  God 
to  the  work."  Twelve  years  later,  under  heavy  stress, 
the  policy  was  forgotten  and  abandoned,  with  the  result 
of  a  famine.  Partially  acted  upon  in  1874,  dropped 
again,  then  reaffirmed  in  1887,  and  carried  through  the 
remaining  years  of  the  society's  history,  it  is  to-day 
the  key  to  its  success.  Not  that  it  forgets  means.  No 
other  society  in  the  world  is  as  progressive  in  its  adapta- 
tion of  every  possible  method  of  arousing  and  sustaining 
interest.  But  underlying  all  the  plans,  constituting  the 
motive  power  of  all  the  machinery,  in  that  and  in  all  the 
sister  societies,  is  the  consciousness  that  they  are  working 
for  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  that  consecrates  and  sancti- 
fies the  labour. 


IX 

THE   MISSIONARY  AND  THE  MISSION 

IN  no  one  respect,  perhaps,  has  the  development  of 
missions  been  more  marked  than  in  the  agencies 
employed  on  the  field.  The  early  missionaries 
were,  for  the  most  part,  men  not  specially  set  apart  for 
the  work.  There  were  a  few  such,  following  the  ex- 
ample of  Paul  and  Barnabas,  but  the  spread  of  the  gospel 
during  the  first  two  centuries  was  accomplished  chiefly 
by  individuals  who  combined  preaching  with  their  regular 
business.  With  the  development  of  ecclesiasticism  in 
the  Church,  the  missionaries  were  all  clerical  and  directly 
connected  with  some  church  or  under  the  orders  of  some 
bishop.  This  rule  extended  throughout  the  Middle  Ages 
and  the  post-Reformation  Roman  Catholic  missions. 
The  missionaries  were  among  the  best  educated  and  the 
most  earnest  of  the  Church,  and  the  roll,  including  such 
names  as  Augustine,  Columba,  Ulfilas,  Cyril,  Methodius, 
Ansgar,  Raymond  Lull,  Xavier,  and  many  of  the  leaders 
in  Canada  and  this  country,  is  one  of  which  the  Church 
may  well  be  proud. 

Educated  Missionaries. — The  early  Protestant  mis- 
sions did  not  lay  much  stress  upon  ordination.  Dober 
and  Nitschmann,  the  Moravians,  appear  to  have  been 
laymen,  and  quite  a  number  of  those  first  sent  out  by  the 
London  Missionary  Society  and  the  German  societies 
were  men  not  merely  lacking  ordination,  but  compara- 

125 


126  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

lively  uneducated.  The  idea  apparently  was  that  the 
heathen  world  in  its  ignorance  did  not  require  the  best 
of  intellectual  ability,  if  only  there  was  a  true  and  deep 
spirituality. 

The  fallacy  of  this  position  was  soon  exposed  by 
Carey,  Morrison,  Gutzlaff,  and  other  pioneers,  but  it 
required  nearly  a  century  for  the  Church  at  home  to 
come  to  a  realizing  sense  that  the  best  was  none  too 
good,  and  that  the  finest  ability  in  every  department 
found  ample  scope.  Perhaps  no  single  event,  or  even 
combination  of  events,  had  such  a  powerful  influence  in 
this  direction  as  the  Parliament  of  Religions  in  Chicago 
in  1893.  That  has  frequently  been  referred  to  as  a 
colossal  blunder  on  the  part  of  Christian  men  through  its 
introduction  to  America  of  the  wiles  of  Oriental  sophism, 
its  practical  misrepresentation  of  Oriental  religions,  its 
degrading;  of  Christ  to  the  level  of  Oriental  sages.  That 
all  the  results  were  not  unmixed  good  is  probably  true. 
One  effect  it  had,  however,  of  immense  value.  Its  galaxy 
of  Hindus,  Moslems,  Buddhists,  Confucianists,  Shintoists, 
gave  the  American  churches  an  object  lesson  as  to  the 
type  of  minds  the  missionary  has  to  deal  with,  and  since 
then  there  has  been  much  less  heard  of  the  idea  that  any 
man,  if  only  he  is  pious,  can  succeed  in  foreign  mission- 
ary work.  So  too  it  has  come  to  be  more  generally  un- 
derstood that  to  reach  and  teach  even  the  most  savage 
tribes  requires  talent  of  the  highest  order.  To  learn  a 
language,  with  no  help  of  dictionary  or  grammar  and  re- 
duce it  then  to  writing  is  a  task  even  greater  than  that 
of  Ulfilas  with  the  Gothic.  More  than  that,  to  re-create 
conceptions  of  God  and  truth  dormant  through  succes- 
sive generations,  sometimes  even  to  create  them,  are 
tasks  of  no  less  difficulty  than  to  meet  the  astute  reason- 


The  Missionary  and  the  Mission     127 

ing  of  a  Brahman  or  the  calm  superiority  of  a  Moslem. 
There  are  hostile  governments,  too,  to  be  met,  social 
customs  and  prejudices  to  be  overcome,  practical  diffi- 
culties of  all  kinds  to  be  surmounted,  so  that  it  is  seldom 
that  any  man  has  any  sort  of  talent  that  he  does  not  find 
use  for,  and  not  a  few^have  developed  under  the  stern 
necessities  of  the  situation,  capabilities  which  neither 
they  nor  their  friends  had  ever  dreamed  that  they 
possessed. 

Lay  Missionaries. — This  demand  for  men  of  educa- 
tion and  training  resulted  in  the  practical  limitation  of 
the  missionary  force,  at  least  in  great  part,  to  the  ministry, 
as  they  were  about  the  only  class  available.  The  lay  ele- 
ment was,  however,  not  unrecognized.  There  was  printing 
to  be  done,  providing  the  Bible  and  a  religious  literature  for 
the  people,  and  S.  Wells  Williams  in  China  holds  a  place 
second  to  none  in  the  annals  of  missionary  attainment, 
not  less  for  his  subsequent  high  position  than  for  his 
earlier  contribution  to  the  success  of  the  cause  to  which 
he  consecrated  his  life.  The  Arabic-speaking  world 
owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  Homan  Hallock,  of  Beirut, 
as  well  as  to  Eli  Smith  and  Cornelius  van  Dyck,  for  the 
version  which  is  used  over  all  Asia  and  Africa.  Alex- 
ander Mackay,  the  engineer  of  Uganda,  ranks  close  be- 
side Bishop  Hannington. 

Gradually  as  the  work  enlarged,  and  it  became  neces- 
sary to  purchase  or  build  houses,  churches,  schools,  etc. ; 
as  expenditures  increased  and  the  care  of  funds  became 
one  of  greater  responsibility,  there  was  more  call  for  busi- 
ness men,  and  nobly  did  they  respond.  One  such  man, 
on  the  highroad  to  preferment  in  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful railroads  of  the  West,  left  all  chance  of  business 
fortune  to  take  charge  of  the  financial  and  business  part 


128  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

of  certain  missions,  and  he  is  by  no  means  the  only  one 
who  is  making  similar  sacrifices. 

As  education  broadened  in  the  home  lands,  and  the 
ministry  held  less  of  a  monopoly ;  as  also  the  work 
branched  out  on  the  field,  along  educational,  medical, 
industrial  lines,  the  proportion  of  unordained  men  in- 
creased rapidly.  They  went  out  as  teachers,  physicians, 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretaries,  and  to-day  the  distinction  be- 
tween lay  and  ministerial  missionaries  is  little  evident. 

Women  Missionaries. — One  of  the  marked  features 
of  modern  missions  is  that  they  have  recognized  so  fully 
the  ministry  of  women.  The  early  Church  honoured 
them  in  the  home  life  and  to  a  degree  in  the  church  and 
community,  but  never  thought  of  sending  them  as  mis- 
sionaries. In  the  Middle  Ages  the  dominant  ecclesias- 
ticism  made  such  a  thing  impossible,  and  on  the  first 
Protestant  missions  men  went  alone.  With  Carey  and 
his  immediate  successors  there  came  a  change.  The 
family  and  the  home  were  recognized  as  genuine  evan- 
gelizing agencies,  and  the  story  of  the  devoted  women 
who  accompanied  Moffat,  Judson,  Newell,  and  many 
others  is  one  of  the  most  inspiring  in  the  history  of  the 
Church.  Theirs  was  a  double  duty.  They  exemplified 
the  power  and  beauty  of  a  Christian  home  in  the  care  of 
husband  and  children,  and  they  came  close  to  the  hearts 
of  those  who  had  been  left  in  the  lowest  degradation  as 
none  others  could.  It  soon  became  evident  that  the 
work  for  woman  needed  additional  workers,  and  it  was 
not  many  years  before  single  women  made  application 
for  appointments  and  were  sent  to  do  a  service  of  the 
f  highest  type.  Such  women  as  Fidelia  Fiske  in  Persia, 
'  Eliza  Agnew  in  Ceylon,  Miss  Aldersey  in  China,  did 
noble  service,  and  it  was  largely  due  to  their  testimony 


The  Missionary  and  the  Mission     129 

that  the  enthusiasm  of  women  at  home  was  aroused,  re- 
sulting in  the  establishment  of  women's  boards,  already 
referred  to. 

Classification. — According  to  the  tables  published 
by  the  Missionary  Review  of  the  Worldy  a  comparison 
between  the  years  1905  and  1908,  shows  that  the  propor- 
tion of  ordained  missionaries  has  fallen  from  about 
thirty-four  per  cent,  to  thirty-one  per  cent.,  the  place 
being  taken  chiefly  by  the  laymen  who  have  advanced 
from  twelve  and  one-half  per  cent,  to  fifteen  per  cent.,  the 
balance  being  in.  favour  of  the  women  who  have  ad- 
vanced from  fifty-three  per  cent,  to  fifty-four  per  cent.  In 
this  the  wives  of  missionaries  are  included,  forming  about 
thirty-one^per  cent.,  the  remaining  twenty-three  per  cent, 
being  unmarried.  The  British  and  American  societies 
have  about  the  same  proportion  of  women,  slightly  in  ex- 
cess of  the  percentage  of  the  total ;  the  European  so- 
cieties show  a  smaller  percentage.  Of  laymen  by  far  the 
largest  percentage,  twenty-four  per  cent.,  are  sent  out  by 
the  English  societies,  the  China  Inland  Mission  and 
North  Africa  Mission  taking  the  lead.  In  these  also 
there  has  been  the  largest  proportion  of  unmarried  men. 
The  tendency  in  the  American  societies  has  been  to  dis- 
courage the  sending  out  of  unmarried  men  except  for 
special  pioneering  work,  or  under  peculiar  circumstances, 
the  general  position  being  that  the  married  man  with  the 
comfort  of  a  home  was  likely  to  do  longer  and  better 
work,  while  the  actual  work  of  the  wife  and  the  uplifting 
influence  of  the  Christian  home  rendered  the  custom 
most  eflective. 

Qualifications. — Into  the  subject  of  the  qualifications  | 
of  a  missionary,  it  is  impossible  to  enter  here.     Those 
qualifications  vary  with  the  field  and  the  peculiar  nature  of 


130  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

the  work  to  be  done.  The  one  essential  in  every  field 
and  under  every  condition  has  been  again  and  again 
proven  to  be  earnest,  aggressive  Christian  faith,  true  de- 
votion to  the  work  of  bringing  men  to  the  knowledge  of 
Christ.  Without  this  the  finest  intellectual  abilities  have 
uniformly  been  worthless.  As  there  has  come  to  be  a 
clearer  comprehension  of  the  actual  situation  on  the 
field,  the  societies  have  been  more  and  more  careful,  even 
rigid,  in  their  examination  of  persons  who  have  either 
applied  for  appointment  or  who  have  been  recom- 
mended, with  the  result  that  the  present  force  is  as  care- 
fully picked  a  body  of  men  and  women  as  could  possibly 
be  found. 

Support. — The  question  of  the  equipment  of  mis- 
sionaries has  given  rise  to  much  discussion  and  has 
passed  through  many  stages.  Christ  sent  forth  His  dis- 
ciples two  and  two,  and  instructed  them  to  depend  for 
their  living  on  those  they  found  where  they  went.  Paul 
worked  at  his  trade  and  would  be  chargeable  to  none. 
Most  of  those  in  the  early  Church  who  went  everywhere 
preaching  the  Word  did  so  at  their  own  charges.  With 
the  development  of  the  Church  the  missionaries  looked 
to  those  who  sent  them  for  support,  but  thought  of  re- 
ceiving no  more  than  the  bare  necessities  of  living. 
Roman  Catholic  priests  and  monks  had  their  support 
from  the  general  funds  of  the  Church.  Ziegenbalg  was 
supplied  fully  and  comfortably  by  the  King  of  Denmark. 
The  two  Moravians  received  from  Count  Zinzendorf  only 
about  two  and  a  half  dollars  apiece  in  addition  to  the  three 
dollarsthey  already  had.  Carey  expected  on  reaching  India 
to  pay  his  own  way,  but  found  circumstances  so  different 
from  his  anticipation  that  he  gave  it  up.  Since  then  the 
custom  has  been  to  meet  all  the  expense  requisite   to  se- 


The  Missionary  and  the  Mission      131 

cure  for  the  missionaries  a  comfortable  living,  meaning 
by  the  term  such  a  living  as,  without  extravagance,  will 
keep  them  in  good  health  and  in  such  condition  that  they 
can  work  most  efficiently.  It  is  evident  that  the  sums 
necessary  for  this  must  vary  very  greatly  in  different 
countries,  and  even  in  different  parts  of  the  same  coun- 
try ;  it  is  more  expensive  to  live  in  cities  than  villages. 
Personal  conditions  must  also  be  taken  into  account  to 
some  degree.  After  much  consideration  the  societies 
have  each  adopted  a  system  by  which  the  amount 
given  is  graded  according  to  the  needs  of  each.  This  is 
ordinarily  called  '  a  salary ;  a  more  appropriate  term 
would  be  an  allowance,  as  there  is  no  element  of  com- 
pensation in  it ;  it  is  simply  a  support.  It  should  be 
said  that  a  considerable  number  of  missionaries,  espe- 
cially English,  meet  their  own  expenses,  or  are  able  to  add 
to  their  allowance -from  private  funds;  also,  many  re- 
ceive gifts  from  friends.  If  examined  carefully,  it  will 
be  found  that  the  reports  of  missionary  extravagance  may 
almost  invariably  be  traced  to  such  instances ;  to  the  be- 
lief, long  since  discarded  by  the  most  experienced,  that 
missionaries  should  live  like  the  poorest  people  among 
whom  they  labour,  or  to  ignorance  and  misstatement  of 
fact. 

Numerous  attempts  have  been  made  to  lessen  the  cost 
of  supporting  missionaries  on  the  field,  and  certain  socie- 
ties have  sent  forth  men  with  no  pledge  of  support, 
merely  the  promise  to  send  whatever  should  be  contrib- 
uted. The  experiment  has  not  proved  generally  success- 
ful. There  have  been  not  a  few  cases  in  which  such 
missionaries  have  been  cared  for  by  representatives  of 
other  boards,  and  their  own  societies  have  come  to  realize 
that  after  spending  considerable  money  in  getting  a  mis- 


132  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

sionary  to  the  field  and  supporting  him  while  getting  the 
language,  the  cheapest  as  well  as  most  efficient  method  is 
to  insure  him  a  comfortable  living. 

Self-Supporting  Missions. — Of  a  somewhat  differ- 
ent character  are,  or  rather  have  been,  the  various  at- 
tempts at  self-supporting  missions,  especially  those  of 
Bishop  William  Taylor,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  in  Africa,  India,  and  South  America.  The 
theory  of  these  has  been  that  the  missionaries,  after  ar- 
rival on  the  field  and  after  being  supplied  with  certain 
equipment  and  material,  should,  by  various  methods, — 
teaching,  agriculture,  trades,  etc., — support  themselves. 
This  is  not  solely  a  question  of  expense,  but  with  a  view 
to  assisting  in  the  development  of  such  enterprises  among 
the  surrounding  people.  The  fact  that  they  have  proved 
failures  has  been  due  not  so  much  to  the  falsity  of  the 
general  principle,  as  to  the  fact  that  the  missionaries 
themselves  were  unable  to  stand  the  strain  of  the  effort  to 
go  without  the  equipment  that  was  needed  to  enable  them 
to  adopt  such  a  manner  of  life  as  was  suited  to  the  condi- 
tions surrounding  them. 

Conditions  of  Life. — On  this  point  again  there  has 
been  considerable  change.  In  the  early  Church  mission- 
aries went  among  those  of  like  manners  and  customs  as 
themselves.  Even  later  the  difference  between  the  Asiatic 
and  the  mediaeval  monk  was  not  so  great  as  to  make  it 
difficult  to  preserve  some  sort  of  common  life.  Under 
modern  circumstances  that  is  impossible.  The  contrast 
between  an  American  home  and  the  Hottentot  kraal,  the 
Kurdish  tent,  the  Indian  or  Chinese  village  hut,  are  be- 
yond the  conception  of  those  who  have  not  seen  them, 
and  the  difference  in  dress,  and  even  food,  is  often  not 
less   great.     To   adopt    these    latter  in  not  a  few  cases 


The  Missionary  and  the  Mission      133 

means  to  lay  a  strain  on  physical  and  nervous  endurance, 
of  the  severest  type.  Thus  one  of  the  nciost  serious 
questions  confronting  missionaries  has  been,  how  far  it 
was  best  for  them  to  accord  to  the  customs  of  the  coun- 
try, and  how  far  they  ought  to  preserve  the  mode  of  life 
with  which  they  were  fa mj liar.  As  was  to  be  expected, 
there  have  been  a  great  variety  of  experiments,  which 
cannot  here  be  even  alluded  to.  The  general  result  has 
been  that  missionaries  in  most  countries  preserve  home 
habits  of  life  so  far  as  possible  without  antagonizing  the 
people  among  whom  they  live.  In  some  cases  they  adopt 
certain  native  customs,  styles  of  dress,  etc.,  especially  in 
China,  but  only  where  to  insist  upon  their  own  would 
raise  hostility  and  endanger  their  work,  if  not  their  lives. 
Efforts  to  adopt  native  manners  have,  as  a  rule,  failed  to 
accomplish  the  end  sought,  and  in  many  instances  have 
worked  harm  to  the  missionaries,  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  unostentatious  but  frank  setting  forth  of 
American  or  English  home  life  has  done  much  to  elevate 
the  ideas  of  the  people  and  stimulate  them  to  a  better 
life. 

Furloughs. — In  regard  to  missionary  service  there 
has  been  an  apparent  change.  When  the  missionaries 
went  out  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century,  friends 
bade  them  farewell,  expecting  not  to  see  their  faces  again. 
Mission  work  was  undertaken  as  a  lifelong  service,  and 
the  separation  from  native  land  was  looked  upon,  except 
for  special  reasons,  as  permanent.  To  all  appearance 
that  has  passed  away.  It  is  now  the  custom  in  most  mis- 
sionary societies  to  grant  furloughs  every  few  years,  the 
length  of  the  period  of  service  on  the  field  varying  from 
five  to  ten  years.  This  practice,  as  others  in  the  conduct 
of  missions,  is  the  result  of  experience,  and  expresses  the 


134  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

conviction  that  in  the  long  run  that  method  which  secures 
the  most  effective  service,  is  the  most  economical  of  abihty 
and  stren£:th. 

Adaptability. — The  missionary,  however,  is  not  a 
mere  individual,  free  to  do  as  he  pleases,  without  regard 
to  others.  He  is  a  representative  of  the  society  that 
sends  him  out ;  he  is  also  one  of  a  company  of  mission- 
aries, each  one  like  himself  with  ideas,  ability,  judgment. 
While  it  is  true  that  there  is  probably  no  line  of  life  in 
which  there  is  such  opportunity  for  the  fullest  develop- 
ment of  the  individual,  it  is  also  true  that  there  is  no  en- 
terprise in  which  what  has  come  to  be  known  as  "  team 
work "  is  so  absolutely  essential  to  the  best  success. 
Many  a  man  of  fair  ability,  as  adjudged  at  home,  has  on 
the  field,  under  the  pressure  of  heavy  responsibilities  and 
superb  opportunities,  developed  an  altogether  unsuspected 
power ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  not  a  few  men  who  have 
gone  to  the  field  with  great  flourish  of  trumpets  and  with 
high  expectations,  both  on  their  own  part  and  by  their 
friends,  have  attained  very  mediocre  success.  In  almost 
every  case  of  such  comparative  failure,  it  has  been  due 
not  so  much  to  defect  in  the  missionary's  ability  as  to 
his  unwillingness,  or  incapacity  for  adaptation  to  the  cir- 
cumstances and  needs  of  the  work.  The  man  who  is 
willing  and  glad  to  do  anything,  however  insignificant, 
even  menial,  if  it  be  needed,  is  the  man  who  can  do 
anything  even  of  the  highest  and  most  difficult.  To 
quote  the  veteran  "  Father  "  Goodell,  when  a  young  mis- 
sionary complained  that  he  came  from  America  to  preach 
the  gospel,  not  to  keep  accounts,  '*  The  disciples  were 
serving  the  Master  just  as  truly  when  they  went  to 
get  the  donkey,  as  when  they  went  two  and  two  to 
preach." 


The   Misiiuiiary  and  the  Mission      135 

Unity  Essential. — In  the  face  of  the  mighty  prob- 
lems that  face  the  small,  even  minute  misbionary  force, 
amid  the  hordes  of  tho.-.e  who  not  0:.//  do  :.'/.  Ci.:e  for 
him  b'Jt  who  oppose  and  in  some  caiie^  even  h-:e  nim,  it 
is  absolutely  essential  that  all  stand  together,  v.-ork.  to- 
'  gether.  There  is  indeed  something  magninc-nt  in  the 
'  sight  of  Livingstone  threading  the  jur.gie:^  of  Africa 
alone,  of  Gilmour  going  from  village  to  village  among 
the  Mongols  alone  ]  yet  it  may  be  doubted  if  Livn.g-/.  jne 
could  have  done  what  he  did,  but  for  tne  Mofi'at 
home,  and  the  fellowship  in  the  times  of  rest ;  v/r.ile 
Gilmour  constantly  came  back  to  Peking  for  rec::.c:a- 
tion,  not  perhaps  so  much  of  physique,  as  of  mind  and 
soul.  Here  is  the  chief  cause  of  the  almost  invariable 
failure  of  independent  missionaries  to  accon'.^l::n  any- 
thing positive  in  breaking  down  the  mighty  wall  of  op- 
position that  they  have  to  meet.  They  are  like  single 
soldiers  in  face  of  a  mighty  army,  easily  overborne.  The 
great  victories  of  missions  have  been  won,  not  by  one 
here  and  another  there,  but  by  companies  standing  to- 
gether, working  together,  presenting  a  united  front,  giv- 
ing an  object-lesson  of  mutual  helpfulness.  Thus  it  is 
that  missions  have  been  formed  everywhere  on  the  field. 
The  Mission. — The  term  "  mhssion  "  is  used  in  a 
variety  of  senses.  Sometimes,  and  that  is  in  the  main 
the  historical  use,  it  is  applied  to  a  particular  effort,  as 
missions  to  the  Chinese,  to  Moslems,  zenana  missions, 
medical  missions,  industrial  missions,  and  the  like.  An- 
other and  more  technical  use  has  grown  up,  and  is  that 
found  in  the  reports  of  missionary  societies  and  generally 
employed  in  ordinary  reference  to  the  work  on  the  field. 
In  this  sense  a  mission  is  an  association  of  miissionaries 
of  a  particular  society,  occupying  a  certain  territory.     It 


136  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

is  not  a  corporate  body,  as  is  the  board  at  home,  but 
rather  a  branch  or  auxiliary  of  the  board,  organized  for 
the  more  methodical  conduct  of  the  work  on  the  field, 
and  for  the  decision  of  such  questions  as  cannot  conve- 
niently, or  need  not,  be  referred  to  the  society.  It  has 
been  composed  usually  of  the  male  members  of  the  mis- 
sionary body,  although  the  question  of  the  admission  of 
women  has  been  agitated,  and  in  some  places  they  are 
allowed  a  vote  on  general  matters,  as  well  as  matters  pe- 
culiarly within  their  province.  The  organization  of  the 
missions  has  been  to  a  considerable  degree  a  develop- 
ment, as  in  the  case  of  the  boards.  At  first  they  were 
little  more  than  associations  for  mutual  consultation.  A 
secretary  and  treasurer  were  appointed  to  facilitate  com- 
munication with  the  home  board.  Gradually,  however, 
important  questions  came  up  which  must  be  decided  on 
the  field,  e.  g.,  the  location  of  missionaries  and  the  ap- 
portionment of  work,  the  selection  of  new  fields,  the  em- 
ployment of  native  assistants,  the  formation  of  churches, 
the  adoption  of  policies,  etc.  There  was,  too,  the  prepa- 
ration of  estimates  and  the  apportionment  of  appropria- 
tions. In  almost  all  matters  an  appeal  is  possible  to  the 
home  board,  and  estimates  are  always  so  referred,  but 
the  decision  of  the  mission  is  seldom  reversed.  The  mis- 
sion, in  most  cases,  meets  annually  at  some  station. 
Sometimes  all  the  missionaries  are  present,  sometimes 
delegates  represent  the  different  stations. 

The  Station. — The  mission  station  is  an  integral  part 
of  the  mission,  formed  and  conducted  on  the  same  gen- 
eral plan,  only  more  circumscribed.  Generally  located 
in  a  city,  its  field  includes  a  considerable  section  of  the 
country  around.  An  outstation  or  substation  is  subordi- 
nate to  the  station.     It  is  ordinarily  not  the  residence  of 


The  Missionary  and  the  Mission      137 

a  missionary.  These  terms  are  indeed  not  used  in  the 
same  sense  by  all  boards,  and  the  organization  of  differ- 
ent missions  under  different  societies  has  varied  not  a 
little,  and  very  much  of  the  difficulty  that  has  been  ex- 
perienced on  mission  fields  has  been  due  to  the  different 
organization  and  conduct  of  missions. 

Just  as  the  missionary  is  not  a  mere  individual,  free 
to  do  as  his  personal  judgment — or  caprice — dictate,  so 
the  mission  is  one  of  a  larger  fellowship  of  missions,  and 
if  "  team  work"  is  essential  in  the  one  case,  much  more 
is  it  in  the  other. 

Conflicting  Methods. — As  the  societies  first  sent  out 
their  representatives,  the  world  was  so  wide  that  there 
was  no  thought  of  possible  clashing  of  interests.  Each 
went  to  whatever  part  seemed,  on  the  whole,  most  at- 
tractive. The  result  was,  especially  in  India,  China,  and 
Japan,  that  a  number  of  societies  were  represented  in 
each  of  the  larger  centers,  from  which  work  could  be  ex- 
tended easily  into  the  surrounding  country.  Had  the 
societies  represented  churches  of  the  same  doctrine  and 
ritual,  this  would  not  have  occasioned  so  much  difficulty ; 
but  the  denominational  differences  projected  themselves 
into  the  mission  field,  and  Baptists,  Presbyterians,  Meth- 
odists, Episcopalians,  etc.,  found  themselves  appealing 
each  to  something  of  the  same  constituency. 

The  mere  divergence  of  ritual  or  form  of  government 
would  have  been  of  less  moment,  but  the  different 
methods  adopted  by  different  boards  not  infrequently 
worked  havoc.  One  mission,  laying  special  stress  upon 
self-support  of  the  native  Church,  and  urging  upon  na- 
tive helpers  to  live  on  the  mere  pittance  that  the  congre- 
gation could  give,  found  itself  close  neighbour  to  a  mission 
that,   with  equal  conscientiousness,  took  a  very  different 


138  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

view,  and  paid  its  helpers  much  higher  salaries.  The 
discrepancy  in  income  could  not  well  be  explained,  and 
not  infrequently  the  result  was  the  loss  of  valued  workers, 
who  could  not  see  why  they  could  not  do  just  as  good 
work  in  the  service  of  one  mission  as  another.  Were 
they  not  both  Christian  ?  So  again  there  was  great  di- 
versity of  methods.  One  mission  emphasized  education, 
had  a  fine  body  of  schools.  Its  neighbour  either  could 
not  afford  the  money,  or  considered  it  an  unwise,  or  at 
least  unnecessary,  expense.  The  result  was  lack  of  har- 
mony, pulling  apart  where  they  should  have  pulled  to- 
gether. Most  serious  of  all  were  the  divisions  that  built 
walls  of  separation  about  the  Lord's  table.  That  serv- 
ants of  the  same  Master  engaged  in  the  same  work, 
should  refuse  communion  with  each  other,  has  been  and 
unfortunately  still  is  true.  The  acme  of  the  evil  comes 
when  representatives  of  any  one  denomination  deliber- 
ately enter  the  mission  held  of  another  denomination, 
with  the  clearly  defined  purpose  of  dividing  its  churches, 
and  weakening  its  attack  upon  what  is  in  truth  the  com- 
mon foe. 

Comity. — The  recognition  of  the  evil  has,  however, 
brought  its  mitigation,  and  in  many  cases  its  cure.  The 
first  remedy  proposed  was  comity,  merely  another  name  for 
courtesy,' manifested  in  absolute  recognition  of  each  mis- 
sion's right  within  its  own  territorial  limits  to  conduct  its 
work  as  it  saw  fit.  Then  came  the  question  of  assigning 
territorial  limits,  but  the  impracticability  of  this  scheme 
became  easily  apparent.  Moreover  whether  recognized 
or  not,  there  was  a  definite  advantage  in  the  proximity  of 
diverse  methods.  Monopoly  has  always  been  dangerous, 
in  religious  work  as  well  as  in  other  departments  of  ac- 
tivity.    There  is  a  very  positive  value  in  the  "  provoking 


The  "Missionary  and  the  Mission      139 

one  another  to  love  and  good  works,"  and  weak  points 
are  much  more  carefully  guarded  when  open  to  another 
eye. 

Organic  Union. — This  method  having  practically 
failed,  at  least  in  the  most  serious  cases,  the  remaining 
method  of  mutual  conference  was  adopted,  with  the 
result,  not  only  of  lessening  friction  but  of  securing 
much  greater  effectiveness.  It  was  the  beginning  of 
*'team  work,"  and  in  China,  Japan  and  India  its  results 
have  been  manifest  in  some  of  the  most  notable  gather- 
ings in  the  history  of  missions.  Out  of  them  have  grown 
not  only  harmony  of  feeling  but  unanimity  of  action, 
and  combination  of  forces.  It  was  given  to  the  foreign 
missions  of  the  churches  to  lead  the  way  in  organic  union, 
first  of  those  most  nearly  allied,  and  gradually  of  others. 
Not  that  the  missions  lost  their  identity,  but  the  churches 
connected  with  them  were  merged  until,  first  the  Presby- 
terian and  Reformed,  then  the  different  Methodists 
waived  their  minor  differences,  and  many  think  the  time 
hear  at  hand  when  others  shall  join,  and  the  divisions  of 
Western  Christendom  shall  disappear  from  the  new  Far 
Eastern  Church. 

Government  Relations. — The  greater  part  of  the 
specific  work  of  the  missionary  and  the  mission  comes 
properly  under  the  head  of  methods  of  work ;  yet  there 
is  another  department  of  missionary  relations  in  which 
the  mission  as  an  organized  body  has  done  great  service. 
Missionary  work  has  been  mostly  conducted  in  lands 
whose  governments  were  hostile,  and  even  where  they 
were  not  really  hostile  they  were  unfriendly,  as  in  the 
earlier  years  in  India.  To  meet  that  kind  of  opposition 
single-handed,  has  always  been  very  difficult.  The  com- 
bined   influence  of  a  corps  of  able  men,  united  in  a 


140  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

definite  organization,  has  often  accomplished  what  would 
have  been  impossible  to  a  mere  aggregate  of  individuals. 

The  relations  with  such  governments  have  often  been 
very  delicate.  They  have  not  b^en  slow  to  realize  that 
the  principles  of  missionary  preaching  and  teaching 
infallibly  result  in  independence  of  thought  and  action, 
and  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  rights  of  the  individ- 
ual against  the  tyranny  of  the  government.  To  further 
such  development  was  simply  to  sign  their  own  death 
warrant.  Hence  every  form  of  opposition  that  was 
available  has  been  used  to  hamper  and  thwart  missionary 
work  where  it  could  not  be  crushed  out.  Fortunately, 
in  the  majority  of  missionary  lands,  foreigners  have  been 
under  the  protection  of  their  own  governments.  It  has, 
however,  been  the  policy  of  Protestant  missions  to  fall 
back  upon  this  as  little  as  possible.  Obedience  to  the 
law  of  the  land,  however  severe  or  unjust,  so  long  as  it 
did  not  call  for  denial  of  faith,  has  been  the  rule,  with  the 
result  that  the  relations  between  missions  and  officials 
have  been  in  most  cases  more  friendly  than  might  be  sup- 
posed, and  not  a  few  who  have  really  sought  the  welfare 
of  their  people  have  come  to  look  upon  the  missionaries 
as  friends  and  have  consulted  with  them  repeatedly  in 
regard  to  matters  within  their  jurisdiction. 

Some  of  the  most  perplexing  and  trying  situations  have 
been  those  where  a  really  friendly  government  finds  itself 
in  a  strait  between  the  aggressive  missionary  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  bitterly  hostile  native  enthusiast  on  the 
other.  No  one  who  has  not  some  personal  acquaintance 
with  Oriental  peoples  can  realize  the  dangers  of  turbu- 
lency  among  them  when  religious  fanaticism  is  aroused. 
It  is  not  strange  that  foreign  rulers  become  sensitive, 
sometimes  to  the  verge  of  cowardice,  and  restrain  what 


The  Missionary  and  the  Mission      141 

•they  might  with  even  greater  safety  encourage.  In  all 
such  cases  the  mission  as  an  organization  becomes  of 
great  value.  Its  corporate  utterance  is  far  more  effective 
than  any  number  of  single  voices,  and  whether  for 
restraint  of  individual  enthusiasm  or  dignified  protest 
against  injustice,  it  has  many  times  proven  its  value. 

Fellowship. — Perhaps,  however,  the  chief  power  of 
the  mission  is  in  its  fellowship.  There  is  not  a  more 
overpowering  sense  on  the  mission  field  than  that  of  the 
mightiness  of  the  forces  arrayed  against  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  the  comparative,  or  apparent,  feebleness  of  the 
forces  of  that  kii;^dom.  Workers  in  the  slums  of  our 
great  cities  at  home  or  in  the  wide  territories  of  the  West 
and  North  and  the  great  masses  of  the  South  feel  it.  Much 
more  do  those  in  Africa  and  Asia,  or  on  the  scattered 
islands  of  the  Pacific.  To  meet  and  confer  together 
of  success  or  trial,  of  danger  or  prosperity  and  to  feel 
the  touch  of  kindred  spirits,  is  a  mighty  element  in  the 
courage  that  holds  men  and  women  true  to  their  work. 
Then,  too,  there  is  need  of  conference  on  questions  of 
general  policy.  Such  conference  is  not  always  harmo- 
nious in  its  progress,  and  while  under  the  stress  of  the 
great  importance  of  right  decision  individual  judgments 
become  accentuated,  divergence  of  view  is  seldom  car- 
ried beyond  the  decision.  A  veteran  missionary  who 
had  argued  long  and  earnestly,  with  tears  in  his  voice 
if  not  in  his  eyes,  against  a  proposed  action,  when 
the  decision  was  adverse,  said  with  a  smile,  "  I  think 
it  a  mistake,  a  great  mistake,  a  serious  mistake ;  but — I 
am  going  to  do  my  best  to  make  it  as  little  of  a  mistake, 
and  as  much  of  a  success  as  possible."  A  visitor  at  a 
mission  meeting  said  once,  "  If  I  wanted  a  positive 
proof  of  the  actual  presence  and  dominating  influence  of 


142  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

the  Holy  Spirit,  it  would  be  sufficient  to  attend  a  meet- 
ing of  the Mission." 

The  missionary  in  the  daily  trial  and  multiform  duties 
of  the  station  life,  on  the  road  from  village  to  village,  in 
the  crowded  meeting,  learns  much  of  the  practice  of 
the  presence  of  God,  but  there  are  few  places  where  that 
presence  is  so  realized,  as  when  with  those  who  labour 
with  him  he  stops  to  commune  of  the  things  of  the 
kingdom,  gain  wisdom  for  his  action,  strength  for  his 
faith,  sweetness  for  his  life,  power  for  the  work  before 
him,  in  the  mission  meeting. 


Kl 


EVANGELISM 

FROM  the  preceding  chapters,  it  will  be  mani- 
fest that  the  actual  conduct  of  the  work  on  the 
field  has  been  very  diverse  in  its  form.  It  has 
been  therefore  frequently  assumed  that  there  was  like 
difference  in  substance;  that  the  representatives  of 
societies  working  in  different  countries,  or  in  the  same 
country,  under  varying  conditions,  have  not  merely  em- 
ployed diverse  methods,  but  have  not  had  the  same  pur- 
poses in  view,  involving  sometimes  radical  differences  in 
the  conception  and  plan  of  the  work,  and  all  these 
have  been  not  infrequently  so  emphasized  as  to  oc- 
casion, with  some,  the  conclusion  that  the  general  mis- 
sionary work  is  rather  kaleidoscopic  in  character,  and 
offers  to  the  thoughtful  non-Christian  a  confused  mass 
of  creeds,  rituals,  and  ecclesiastical  organizations,  quite 
at  variance  with  his  own  centralized  and,  in  general, 
harmonious  religious  system.  Undoubtedly  this  diver- 
gence has  been  exaggerated  by  the  opponents  of  missions, 
Christian  as  well  as  non-Christian.  The  actual  disad- 
vantages on  the  field  have  been  far  less  numerous  and 
disastrous  than  some  have  claimed.  Still,  when  all 
allowance  is  made,  it  remains  unquestionably  true  that 
there  has  not  been  the  harmony  that  there  should  be. 

Science  of  Missions. — There  was  at  one  time  con- 
siderable discussion  as  to  a  possible  science  of  missions, 
which  might  minimize  the  difficulties,  obviate  some  mis- 

143 


144  ^^^  Missionary  Enterprise 

takes,  and  help  to  bring  all  the  different  forces  into  har- 
mony and  possibly  into  unity.  More  recently  there  has 
been  less  said  on  the  subject.  In  the  first  place  an  exact 
science  of  missions,  in  the  sense  of  the  term  as  usually 
used,  is  recognized  as  an  impossibility,  from  the  very 
nature  of  the  questions  involved.  Individual  character, 
sin,  repentance,  and  salvation  cannot  be  classified. 
Again,  the  work  of  missions  depends  for  its  success  at 
least  in  its  earlier  stages  and  to  a  considerable  degree 
later,  upon  the  artistic  rather  than  the  scientific  tempera- 
ment. The  presentation  of  the  gospel  message  requires 
above  everything  else  the  power  of  sympathy,  and  many 
a  very  unscientific  man  has  made  a  most  excellent  mis- 
sionary, while  some  very  clear  thinkers  have  had  little 
success.  On  the  other  hand,  especially  in  the  later  de- 
velopment of  the  work,  certain  facts  have  become  ap- 
parent, which  when  properly  interpreted  and  arranged, 
present  a  basis  for  harmonizing  many  divergencies  and 
furnish  some  general  principles  which  not  only  guide  to 
new  action  but  put  the  experience  of  others  at  the  service 
of  all.  Such  a  coordination  of  facts  and  statement  of 
principles,  might  well  form  a  science  of  missions. 
Within  the  limits  of  these  chapters  nothing  more  can  be 
done  than  to  indicate,  and  that  chiefly  historically,  the 
lines  such  a  work  might  follow.  To  perfect  it  would 
require  at  least  a  volume. 

Motive. — Taking  up  first  the  object  and  purpose  of 
missionary  work,  what  is  it  that  these  missionaries  have 
sought  and  are  seeking  to  do,  and  what  is  the  motive  that 
has  actuated  them  and  those  who  have  supported  and 
encouraged  them  in  their  work?  It  is  a  singular  fact 
that  if  one  were  to  examine  the  constitutions  of  mission- 
ary societies  he  would  find  a  considerable  diversity  of 


Evangelism  145 

opinion,  or  at  least  of  statement,  on  this  very  point.  So, 
too,  if  he  looks  over  the  history  of  missions,  he  will  find 
that  the  most  effective  and  permanent  work  has  not  been 
done  by  those  who  have  been  most  explicit  in  their  ex- 
position of  just  what  it  was  that  they  sought  to  accom- 
plish, at  least  immediately.  -  He  will  also  find  that  there 
has  been  a  marked  change  in  this  respect,  or  perhaps 
better,  a  notable  development. 

The  early  Protestant  missions  were  largely  in  response 
to  a  sense  of  duty  to  those  in  degradation  and  sin.  The 
entire  non-Christian  world  was  looked  upon  en  masse,  as 
heathen,  with  much  the  same  sentiment  as  that  of  the 
Hebrews  for  the  Gentiles  or  the  Romans  for  the  pagans. 
With  Carey  the  greater  object  came  to  the  front.  Like 
Xavier,  he  was  filled  with  an  enthusiasm  for  the  conver- 
sion of  the  world.  His  thought,  however,  seems  to  have 
been  directed  primarily  to  the  duty  of  the  Church  to 
obey  the  divine  command,  and  he  went  forth  with  no 
very  clear  conception  as  to  just  what  it  was  that  he  was 
to  accomplish.  The  same  was  true  of  most,  if  not  all, 
the  pioneers  of  modern  missions.  There  were  the 
** marching  orders"  of  the  Church.  They  had  not 
been  obeyed.  They  must  be  obeyed.  As  to  what  was 
involved  in  them  they  knew  little,  but  this  troubled  them 
not  at  all.  They  were  to  preach  the  gospel  and  disciple 
the  nations.  That  was  enough.  The  same  thought  filled 
those  who,  unable  to  go  themselves,  volunteered  to  stand 
by  those  who  did,  and  see  that  they  had  the  means 
necessary  to  enable  them  to  preach  and  to  disciple. 

With  the  actual  commencement  of  this  work,  however, 
and  still  more  with  its  development,  the  missionaries 
came  to  realize  that  the  general  command  involved  many 
particulars,  and  these  particulars,  in  varying  degree,  ac- 


146  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

cording  to  time  and  place,  assumed  the  character  of 
definite  objects  to  be  attained.  With  this  realization  a 
certain  development  became  very  manifest. 

Object. — Unquestionably  the  first  is  the  conversion  of 
individual  souls.  No  one  who  has  never  seen  it  can  fully 
appreciate  the  impression  made  by  the  sight  of  a  vast 
multitude  of  human  beings  ignorant  of  the  Way  of  Life. 
There  is  something  oppressive  in  the  sight  of  a  great 
crowd,  and  when  to  that  is  added  the  realization  of  their 
ignorance  of  life  and  their  thraldom  under  sin,  the  op- 
pression becomes  almost  unendurable.  The  ''passion 
for  souls"  begotten  by  this  impression  has  been  one  of 
the  most  marked  features  of  missionary  life.  The  one 
supreme  object  comes  to  be  the  saving  of  men.  It 
crowds  out  even  the  command.  Then  comes  another 
stage ;  the  man  once  brought  to  the  light  reveals  the 
possibilities  of  his  nature,  and  the  desire  to  save  him 
from  spiritual  death  is  supplemented  by  the  desire  to  de- 
velop in  him  the  full  spiritual  life.  The  missionary 
realizes  what  that  man  may  be  in  his  own  character,  and 
is  filled  with  a  longing  that,  not  only  for  the  good  of  the 
man  himself,  but  for  the  glory  of  his  Creator  Christ,  he 
may  in  truth  attain  to  the  stature  of  the  perfect  man  in 
Christ  Jesus.  That  perfect  man  is  to  be  not  merely  a 
pardoned  sinner  but  also  a  developed  saint,  with  intellec- 
tual, moral  and  physical  powers  brought  up  to  the  normal 
condition.  But  the  man  is  not  alone  affected.  He  is 
one  of  a  family,  the  family  belongs  to  a  community,  the 
community  takes  its  part  in  tlie  making  of  a  nation. 
Thus  the  vision  grows,  the  horizon  broadens,  until  the 
work  of  the  missionary  comes  to  include  everything  that 
in  his  own  land  belongs  to  the  complete  Christian  people. 
Still  again,  as  he  comes  to  know  more  thoroughly  the  pos- 


Evangelism  147 

sibilities  in  the  mind  and  heart  of  those  for  whom,  and 
then  with  whom,  he  works,  he  begins  to  reahze  that  their 
form  of  conception  of  truth  has  in  it  something  that  his  has 
lacked ;  something,  at  first  perhaps  vague  yet  real,  with- 
out which  his  own  conception  has  been  incomplete;  that 
they  have  something  to  give  to  him,  and  through  him  to 
those  from  whom  he  came.  Thus  again  the  vision 
heightens  and  deepens  and  the  missionary's  aim  and  pur- 
pose come  to  be  the  full  establishment  of  that  kingdom 
of  God  that  knows  no  bounds  of  race  or  language ;  in 
which  Asiatic  and  African  as  well  as  European  and 
American  shall  have  their  share  in  the  completion  of  the 
kingdom  proclaimed  in  Judaea,  and  Galilee  and  com- 
menced at  Calvary. 

True  Vision. — Thus  it  comes  to  pass  that  the  emphasis 
of  foreign  missions  to-day  is  not  so  much  on  **  salvation 
from  death  "  as  on  "  salvation  to  life."  It  is  not  that  sin 
and  its  consequences  have  lost  any  of  their  hideousness, 
or  that  the  suffering  and  loss  of  those  who  know  not 
Christ  is  minimized  or  glossed  over,  but  there  is  a  keener 
realization  of  the  opportunity  and  the  possibility  of  bless- 
ing for  these  same  souls,  and  a  more  vivid  assurance  that 
the  coming  of  the  blessing  is  at  hand.  A  pessimistic 
missionary  is  a  contradiction  in  terms.  No  one  who  saw 
Jacob  Chamberlain,  Joan  G.  Paton,  William  Ashmore,  at 
the  Ecumenical  Conference ;  no  one  who  has  entered  into 
the  councils  of  missions  on  the  field  can  fail  to  gain  a 
glimpse  of  the  vigour  and  the  power  of  this  hope.  It  is 
easier  to  understand  how  the  Saviour,  at  that  last  supper, 
with  full  vision  of  the  suffering  for  sin  and  death,  gave 
thanks  for  the  victory  already  assured. 

This  very  confidence  has  occasioned  the  development 
of  certain   movements,    on   the  one   hand   placing  less 


1^8  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

value  on  the  use  of  what  are  termed  human  methods, 
and  on  the  other  urging  the  extension  of  those  methods. 

Forcing  Results. — The  increasing  knowledge  of  the 
heathen  world  brought  also  an  increasing  realization  of 
the  tremendous  work  to  be  done  and  a  certain  impatience 
with  what  seemed  to  many  the  slow  methods  in  vogue. 
Repeated  charges  were  made  by  those  unfriendly  to  mis- 
sions that  they  were  accomplishing  very  little  and  that 
heathenism  was  really  growing  faster  than  Christianity. 
The  growth  of  organization  in  missionary  societies 
seemed  to  some  to  make  too  much  of  a  business  of  con- 
verting the  world,  and  the  organization  of  the  work  on 
the  field  seemed  to  others  far  removed  from  the  simplicity 
of  what  they  conceived  to  be  the  true  methods,  involv- 
ing greater  dependence  upon  God  for  support  and  less  use 
of  special  efforts  for  securing  donations.  The  develop- 
ment of  the  doctrine  of  the  pre-millennial  coming  of  Christ, 
as  it  came  to  assume  more  prominence,  carried  with  it 
the  claim  that  there  must  first  be  a  heralding  of  the  gospel 
over  the  whole  earth,  and  then  He  would  come.  With 
some  this  seemed  to  be  carried  almost  to  the  extreme  of 
caring  comparatively  little  for  conversion  of  souls,  still 
less  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  Church.  Every  effort  was 
to  be  directed  to  the  proclamation  of  the  Word,  so  that 
all,  of  whatever  race  or  land,  might  have  the  opportunity 
given  them  of  accepting  the  gospel.  More  than  that  was 
not  to  be  expected. 

On  the  other  hand  it  was  felt  that  if  some  methods 
were  good,  more  methods  were  better  ;  if  a  certain  num- 
ber of  missionaries,  native  helpers,  schools  and  the  ex- 
penditure of  so  much  money  could  do  a  certain  amount  of 
work  in  a  given  number  of  years,  how  many  missionaries, 
etc.,  would  be  required  to  accomplish  the  entire  Chris- 


Evangelism  149 

tianization  of  a  nation,  or  of  the  world  ?  Thus  during 
the  year  1907,  inquiries  were  sent  to  different  mission 
fields  asking  for  estimates  along  this  line.  The  answers 
that  were  returned  showed  that  those  at  the  front  realized 
that  the  Saviour's  words  to  the  two  on  the  way  to  Em- 
maus  were  still  in  force  and  that  it  was  not  for  them  to 
know  the  times  and  seasons.  Thus  the  older  motive  is 
again  reinforced  and  the  obedience  to  the  Lord's  com- 
mand to  go  and  disciple  the  nations  is  not  weakened  by 
the  clearer  vision  of  the  results  of  that  obedience. 

Reaching  the  People. — Taking  up  now  the  develop- 
ment of  the  methods  used  under  these  motives  to  attain 
the  object  of  foreign  missions,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  three 
problems  have  always  met  those  who  have  gone  forth  to 
carry  the  gospel  message  to  distant  lands :  how  to  gain 
access  to  the  thoughts  and  hearts  of  the  people ;  how  to 
guide  and  assist  them  individually  in  developing  the  full 
Christian  character;  how  to  organize  them,  that  the  work 
of  further  development  and  of  extension  may  be  safely  left 
to  them  without  external  aid.  The  first,  how  to  reach  the 
people,  applies  particularly  to  pioneer  work,  whether  in 
the  entrance  upon  entirely  new  fields  or  in  the  extension 
into  unoccupied  sections  of  older  fields.  It  assumes  that 
the  people  to  be  reached  have  not  heard  the  gospel  mes- 
sage. 

In  almost  every  mission  country,  and  even  community, 
three  classes  of  people  have  been  found.  A  very  few 
were  dissatisfied  with  their  condition,  and  prepared  to 
listen  appreciatively  to  the  proclamation  of  a  new  faith, 
on  the  chance  that  it  might  offer  them  a  surer  hope  for 
the  future,  or  at  least  more  of  comfort  and  help  for  the 
present.  A  large  number  were  not  merely  perfectly 
satisfied  with  their  own  religion,  but  actively  interested  in 


150  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

its  support  and  propagation.  The  great  majority  every- 
where accepted  the  faith  in  which  they  had  been  brought 
up,  without  a  thought  of  criticism  or  an  idea  that  there 
could  be  anything  better.  They  were  not  enthusiastic  in 
their  devotion  to  it,  except  as  stirred  by  fanatical  appeals 
of  the  leaders  belonging  to  the  second  class,  and  made 
to  feel  that  cherished  customs  and  relations  were  endan- 
gered by  those  who  came  preaching  a  new  doctrine.  It 
is  by  no  means  true  that  the  lines  between  these  classes 
have  been  always  clear.  They  exist,  however,  even  to 
this  day,  and  it  is  to  the  first  class  that  the  missionary 
looks  in  general  for  the  foundation  on  which  to  build  his 
work.  Sometimes  it  appears  as  if  they  were  absolutely 
lacking.  In  more  than  one  mission  field  the  labourers 
have  waited  patiently  year  after  year  without  finding  any 
to  listen  appreciatively,  but  as  a  rule  a  few  have  been 
found  to  whom  the  word  of  salvation  has  come  like  clear 
water  to  a  thirsty  soul. 

Giving  the  Message. — The  question  facing  the  mis- 
sionary, and  one  that  might  well  make  the  boldest 
hesitate,  has  been  how  to  meet  these  people  and  so  give 
expression  to  his  message  as  to  reach  the  hearts  of  those 
who,  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  might  have  been  prepared  to 
receive  it.  It  is  fortunate  that  the  answer  to  the  question 
is  very  clear  from  the  united  testimony  of  successful 
workers  since  the  time  of  the  apostles.  Whenever  sub- 
stantial work  has  been  done  it  has  been  by  the  dwelling 
upon  two  themes — the  need  of  man  and  the  sufficiency  of 
Christ.  The  need  is  one  of  sin  ;  the  sufficiency  that  of 
salvation.  When  those  two  themes  have  been  the  bur- 
den of  the  missionaries  there  has  been  a  response. 
Sometimes  it  has  been  long  in  coming,  but  in  due  time 
it    has    come.     Its   permanence   and   power   have   also 


Evangelism  151 

been  in  proportion  to  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel  as 
presented. 

There  have  been  no  more  valiant  missionaries  than 
the  Nestorians  who,  in  the  seventh  century,  penetrated 
into  China  and  gathered  a  large  number  of  converts. 
They  however  were  under  the  influence  of  the  theolog- 
ical controversies  in  regard  to  the  person  of  Christ,  and 
it  was  probably  due  in  large  measure  to  the  fact  that  that 
theological  dogma  overbore  the  simplicity  of  the  procla- 
mation of  the  Saviour  and  His  salvation  that  their  work 
faded  away.  The  insistence  on  the  Church  and  its  sacra- 
ments weakened  the  power  of  the  successors  of  Xavier, 
and  impaired  the  vigour  of  the  Christian  communities  in 
India  and  the  Americas,  as  it  had  already  that  of  the 
evangelized  Saxons,  Germans,  Slavs,  and  others  in 
Europe.  The  same  thing  vitiates  the  work  of  modern 
Roman  Catholic  missions.  While  they  have  many 
earnest,  devoted  workers  their  missions  have  in  no  case 
been  a  power  for  aggressive,  permanent  Christian  life. 

Modern  Protestant  missions  have  followed  the  earlier 
and  simpler  style  of  presentation.  They  have  sought  to 
reach  the  hearts  of  the  people  and  win  their  affection, 
focusing  all  attention  on  the  personal  Redeemer.  In  do- 
ing this  they  have  followed  no  one  method,  in  the  sense 
in  which  the  word  is  so  often  used  to  indicate  a  plan  or 
system,  including  rules  made  to  accord  to  some  general 
policy  and  in  which  it  is  legitimately  used  in  regard  to 
the  later  phases  of  the  work.  In  another  and  broader 
sense  they  have  used  methods,  understanding  by  the 
term  general  lines  of  action.  Of  these  the  most  im- 
portant have  been  personal  intercourse,  preaching  in 
houses  and  places  of  public  gathering,  visiting  from 
house  to  house,  distributing  Scriptures  or  tracts,  singing, 


152  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

medical  aid — indeed,  anything  that  could  bring  them 
into  personal  contact  with  the  people. 

Missionary  Fundamentals.^ — It  is  in  this  personal 
contact  that  the  qualifications  of  the  missionary  are  put 
to  the  severest  test. 

Of  these  the  first  is  a  correct  knowledge  of  the  lan- 
guage of  the  people,  and  not  merely  of  their  language, 
but  of  their  habits  and  modes  of  thought.  While  un- 
doubtedly this  is  more  essential  in  dealing  with  some 
nations  than  with  others,  it  is  in  every  case  the  founda- 
tion of  successful  proclamation  of  the  gospel.  True  of 
any  dealings  with  other  nations,  it  is  especially  true  of 
missionary  enterprises.  The  languages  of  Christian 
nations,  however  diverse  in  form,  have  much  in  com- 
mon. The  terms  of  Christianity  are  found  in  each  and 
have  essentially  the  same  meaning.  Not  so  with  non- 
Christian  languages.  They  have  no  words  to  express 
many  of  the  most  ordinary  truths  of  Christianity,  simply 
because  the  people  who  use  them  utterly  lack  the  con- 
ception. The  missionary  who  would  preach  effectively 
must,  therefore,  not  only  know  the  words  of  the  lan- 
guage spoken,  but  so  acquire  the  thoughts  and  genius 
of  that  language  as  to  be  able,  if  necessary,  to  coin  a 
word  and  to  explain  it  so  that  his  hearers  shall  gain  the 
conception  he  wishes  to  give,  or  to  take  some  word  of 
kindred  significance  and  stamp  upon  it  the  meaning  he 
wishes.  Thus  few  non- Christian  languages  have  any 
words  for  sin  or  repentance,  and  in  China  there  is  still 
diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  proper  word  to  use  for 
God. 

Scarcely  less  important  than  knowledge  of  the  lan- 
guage is  knowledge  of  the  habits  of  thought  of  the 
people,  of  the  ideas  that  dominate  their  belief  and  action. 


Evangelism  153 

The  missionary  in  China  must  understand  what  ancestral 
worship  is,  and  what  it  requires  on  the  part  of  the 
people.  In  India  the  more  he  can  know  of  the  way  in 
which  the  Vedas  have  worked  into  popular  thought  the 
better  he  will  be  able  to  do  what  Paul  did  at  Athens. 
The  thought  even  of  the  Hottentot  must  be  understood 
if  it  is  to  be  replaced  by  the  thought  of  Christ.  Kindred 
to  this  is  the  ability  to  enter  into  the  feelings  of  people  ; 
to  sympathize  with  their  peculiar  needs;  to  appreciate 
their  customs ;  to  recognize  the  inner  qualities  which  make 
possible  a  noble  character,  even  though  the  surroundings 
be  degrading  and  sinful.  The  missionary  should  be  able 
to  do,  in  a  measure,  what  the  Master  did  when  He  suf- 
fered the  woman  that  was  a  sinner  to  wash  His  feet.  So, 
also,  he  must  be  able  to  mingle  with  the  people,  and 
share  in  some  degree  their  life,  the  formal  life  of  the 
Mandarin  as  well  as  the  poor,  even  repulsive,  life  of  the 
pariah;  just  as  the  Saviour  asserted  His  right  to  the 
honours  due  to  a  guest  at  the  Pharisee's  table,  but  could 
also  talk  familiarly  with  the  woman  of  Samaria. 

How  essential  equipment  in  each  one  of  these  respects 
has  been  considered  by  the  most  successful  workers  in 
every  age  can  be  best  learned  by  reading  the  records  of 
the  lives  of  those  who  have  led  the  way.  The  years 
spent  in  unremitting  study  by  Judson,  Morrison,  Riggs, 
Van  Dyck  and  Bridgman,  the  pains  taken  by  Vander- 
kemp,  Moffat,  Paton,  Dr.  Grant,  to  enter  into  the  cir- 
cumstances of  Hottentots,  South  Sea  Islanders,  and  Nes- 
torians,  the  labour  of  committing  to  memory  passages  of 
Asiatic  philosophy  and  poetry  by  Jacob  Chamberlain  and 
W.  A.  P.  Martin,  all  go  to  show  that  the  most  successful 
missionary  has  been,  and  will  be,  the  man  or  woman  who 
can  enter  most  fully  into  what  we  call  the  life  of  the 


i54  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

people — who  can  be,  as  the  apostle  was,  "  all  things  to 
all  men." 

Preparation. — That  this  must  also  take  time  has  been 
the  experience  of  all,  so  that  the  bar  of  language  is  not 
altogether  an  unmixed  evil.  The  time  required  to  learn 
it  is  in  some  respects  the  missionary's  salvation.  Es- 
pecially is  this  true  as  more  thorough  scholarship  has 
opened  up  unimagined  treasures  in  the  religious  life  of 
the  peoples,  and  there  is  danger  of  going  to  one  of  two 
extremes.  The  student,  fresh  from  the  study  in  an 
American  University  of  the  writings  of  the  Orient,  is 
often  in  as  much  danger  of  estimating  them  too  highly, 
as  his  predecessor  of  a  former  generation  was  of  consid- 
ering them  as  valueless,  or  absolutely  evil.  To  judge 
wisely  as  to  the  proportion  of  good  or  evil  in  any  partic- 
ular case  is  no  easy  matter,  and  requires  careful  observa- 
tion and  experience,  such  as  only  comes  with  time,  and 
time  spent  on  the  field,  in  the  midst  of  the  people  them- 
selves. Notwithstanding  the  attractive  programs  of  some 
missionary  training  schools  it  is  doubted  by  many  whether 
any  effort  to  give  missionaries  specific  missionary  train- 
ing before  they  go  to  the  field  does  not  delay  more  than 
it  helps.  Even  the  study  of  a  language  has  the  disad- 
vantage that  it  is  impossible  to  acquire  the  peculiar  tone 
or  accent,  except  as  it  is  heard  in  general  conversation  or 
in  public  discourse,  and  not  merely  as  spoken  by  indi- 
viduals. 

Methods  of  Work. — By  far  the  best  way  to  study 
the  actual  conduct  of  mission  work  is  to  read  the  biog- 
raphies of  missionaries,  or  such  a  book  as  Dr.  Arthur  J. 
Brown's  "  The  Missionary."  Here  only  the  briefest  sum- 
mary can  be  given.  The  first  and  most  important,  as 
well  as  universal,  method  has  always  been  personal  con- 


Evangelism  155 

versation.  Rarely,  if  ever,  have  the  foundations  of  mis- 
sion work  been  laid  in  crowds.  Individuals  have  been 
drawn  by  the  effect  of  personal  contact  to  give  expres- 
sion to  their  own  need,  to  inquire  for  their  own  salva- 
tion, and  to  accept  their  own  personal  Saviour.  They 
may  have  been  met  accidentally,  may  have  been  sought 
out  by  the  missionary,  may  have  come  through  curiosity, 
or  even  for  the  purpose  of  controverting  the  doctrine  of 
Christianity;  they  may  have  been  approached  through 
any  one  of  innumerable  avenues  ;  but,  in  whatever  way 
the  intercourse  had  been  opened,  those  thus  influenced 
include,  as  Dr.  Nevius  of  China  says,  by  far  the  greater 
proportion  of  converts,  especially  in  pioneer  work.  It  is 
significant,  also,  that  modern  Roman  Catholic  mission- 
aries employ  this  means  almost  exclusively,  for  adults. 

Next  to  personal  conversation,  sometimes  the  preliminary 
or  introduction  to  it,  is  preaching.  In  pioneer  work  it 
may  be  in  the  street,  a  public  square,  market-place,  or 
some  other  location  where  men  naturally  congregate. 
Sometimes  the  inn  has  been  utilized,  occasionally  a  pri- 
vate house  belonging  to  one  who  by  some  means  has 
been  drawn  to  manifest  an  interest  in  the  preacher.  Dr. 
Chamberlain,  in  his  book  *'  In  the  Tiger  Jungle,"  gives 
some  very  interesting  illustrations  of  the  gatherings  in 
different  villages  among  the  Telugus,  when  the  mission- 
ary with  his  native  assistants  at  a  street  corner  early  in 
the  morning,  roused  the  curiosity  and  then  the  interest  of 
the  people  by  singing  Telugu  hymns,  and  then  preached 
to  them.  More  than  one  missionary  has  turned  the 
curiosity  of  those  who  gathered  about  his  tent  or  the 
door  of  the  room  where  he  stayed  to  good  account,  and 
made  his  text  some  little  thing  that  attracted  their  notice. 

The  Story  of  the  Cross. — The  essential  thing,  how- 


156  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

ever,  is  not  the  gathering  of  a  crowd, — that  can  be  done 
in  almost  any  country, — but  the  subject  of  the  preaching, 
the  method  adopted  in  setting  forth  the  message.  This 
is  always  in  the  simplest  style  possible.  The  traditional 
sermon  of  the  American  or  English  service,  with  its 
definite  theme  and  regular  treatment,  has  been  rarely 
used.  Occasionally  it  has  been  found  valuable  in  some 
Indian  assembly  where  educated  Hindus,  Buddhists,  or 
Moslems  have  gathered,  as  did  the  Athenians  of  old,  to 
hear  the  ''  new  thing  "  the  foreigner  has  to  tell.  More 
frequently  the  formal  sermon  or  address  belongs,  how- 
ever, to  the  later  period,  when  already  there  is  some 
knowledge  of  the  new  faith.  The  form  that  has  had 
the  greatest  success  is  the  simple  story  of  the  Cross,  the 
gospel  translated  into  the  terms  familiar  even  to  the 
villager.  It  is  comparatively  seldom  that  discussion,  es- 
pecially controversy,  is  used.  Sometimes  it  is  forced 
upon  the  missionary,  and  he  must  be  equipped  to  meet  it 
and  hold  his  own  if  he  would  win  the  respect  of  those  he 
seeks  to  influence.  Sometimes  in  the  later  stages  he  may 
court  it  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  fallacies  of  anti- 
christian  arguments  or  the  vvorthlessness  of  such  dogmas. 
In  the  main,  however,  it  has  been  recognized  that  men 
are  influenced  less  by  argument  than  by  persuasion,  and 
that  defeat  in  argument  is  more  apt  to  embitter  than  to 
placate.  The  object,  as  already  stated,  being  to  win 
men  rather  than  to  overcome  systems,  the  method  of  ad- 
dress is  adapted  to  convince  rather  than  to  mortify. 

With  the  extension  of  the  use  of  English,  due  partly  to 
the  instruction  in  English  in  missionary  and  governmental 
schools,  the  presence  of  large  numbers  of  Orientals  in  the 
educational  institutions  of  America  and  England,  and 
the   increasing   adoption    of  that    language   in  the  com- 


Evangelism  157 

merce  of  the  world,  a  new  sphere  for  the  preacher  has 
been  opened  up.  Many  Hindus,  Moslems  and  Jap- 
anese will  listen  to  an  address  in  English  who  would  not 
enter  a  missionary  church  or  chapel. 

'The  Haskell  Lectures. — Especially  has  this  been 
manifest  in  the  addresses  by  prominent  American  and 
English  preachers,  in  the  Haskell  course,  founded  by  a 
wealthy  American  woman,  as  one  outcome  of  the  Par- 
liament of  Religions.  The  lectures  by  Dr.  J.  O.  Barrows, 
Principal  Fairbairn,  and  President  Charles  Cuthbert 
Hall,  have  had  a  mighty  influence  upon  the  more 
educated  classes  of  India  and  Japan,  and  have  reached 
those  who  would  scarcely  have  been  reached  in  any  other 
way.  The  special  result  of  such  addresses  belongs  nat- 
urally in  the  chapters  speaking  of  those  countries.  To 
the  criticism  that  has  been  made  by  some  that  the  tend- 
ency has  been  in  them  to  idealize  the  religions  of  the 
people  rather  than  recognize  the  hideous  deformity  of 
their  practice,  it  is  sufficient  to  answer  that  few  things 
have  done  more  to  eliminate  the  term  **  heathen,"  in  its 
sense  of  inferiority  to  the  Anglo-Saxon,  and  to  show  to 
the  Oriental  that  the  thought  and  sentiment  of  the  best  in 
Christian  lands,  dwells  not  upon  the  degradation  of  the 
non-Christian  world,  but  rather  upon  its  uplifting.  The 
presence  of  such  men  and  of  others,  in  less  conspicu- 
ous manner,  but  with  similar  spirit,  has  done  much  to 
give  the  ideal  of  the  Christian  Church  to  non-Christian 
peoples,  while  it  has  also  done  much  to  create  in  the 
Church  a  sense  of  fellowship  with,  instead  of  superiority 
to,  those  less  well  acquainted  with  the  Christ  life. 

Controversy  to  be  Avoided. — Here  reference  may 
be  made  to  the  question  as  to  what  relation  the  mission- 
ary should  bear  to  the  doctrines  and  customs  held  by  the 


158  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

people  whom  he  wishes  to  reach.  Is  he  to  condemn 
them  absolutely;  is  he  to  condone  them  as  having  some 
truth,  and  thus  rather  better  than  none  at  all ;  or  is  he 
to  avoid  all  reference  to  them  ?  Here,  as  in  other  similar 
matters,  the  answer  is  to  be  found  in  the  experience  and 
practice  of  those  who  have  been  most  successful.  Ray- 
mond Lull  fought  Islam  with  his  whole  power,  and  he 
has  had  not  a  few  followers  in  later  years.  One  of  the 
most  learned  missionaries  of  an  English  society  is  best 
known  by  a  controversial  tract  on  Islam.  Neither  has, 
so  far  as  is  apparent,  achieved  great  result.  De  Nobili, 
and  others  who  followed  Xavier,  sought  to  use  whatever 
in  Buddhism  and  Confucianism  was  not  at  first  sight  di- 
rectly contrary  to  the  gospel,  and  the  result  was  a  sort  of 
pagan  Christianity,  which  compelled  the  most  positive 
censure  of  the  authorities  at  Rome  and  proved  the  ruin 
of  Xavier's  great  work.  The  practice  of  those  who  have 
been  most  successful  has  been  never  to  weaken  in  the 
slightest  the  claims  of  Christianity  as  the  only  sufficient 
religion,  but  at  the  same  time  to  recognize  the  good  in 
the  faiths  of  the  people,  and  to  avoid  so  far  as  possible 
topics  on  which  there  may  arise  sharp  difference  of  opin- 
ion. With  a  Moslem,  belief  in  the  divinity  of  Christ 
has  usually  come  as  a  result  of  the  influence  of  the  Spirit 
using  the  words  of  the  missionary,  rather  than  as  a  re- 
sult of  argument.  Many  a  foe  has  been  disarmed  by  an 
adroit  use  of  the  same  weapon,  made  so  effective  by  Paul 
at  Mars  Hill,  who  would  have  been  lost  forever  had  the 
idolatry  of  his  ancestors  been  unsparingly  condemned. 

At  the  same  time  discussion  has  its  proper  place  and 
the  missionary  must  be  prepared  to  attack  as  well  as  to 
defend.  In  no  one  part  of  missionary  work  is  there 
more  need  for  the  wisdom,  the  patience,  the  courage,  the 


Evangelism  159 

love  of  Christ,  than  in  the  argument  that  is  used  to  prove 
His  right  to  rule  in  the  souls  of  men. 

■  Touring. — The  occasion  for  personal  conversation 
and  the  opportunity  for  preaching,  especially  in  a  new- 
field,  is  found  in  frequent  travelling,  or  touring  as  it  is 
often  technically  called. 

This  accomplishes  three  purposes:  it  gives  knowledge 
of  the  field,  and  thus  of  its  needs  and  opportunities ;  gives 
occasion  for  personal  conversation  and  preaching ;  and 
also  helps  to  familiarize  the  people  with  the  appearance 
of  the  missionary  and  with  his  errand.  Few  people 
realize  how  much  missionary  success  depends  upon 
removing  the  sense  of  strangeness  that  attends  the 
coming  of  those  who  are  unfamiliar  in  their  appearance, 
and  whose  words  and  teachings  are  not  only  inconsistent 
with,  but  antagonistic  to,  those  tQ  which  the  people  have 
been  trained  through  generations.  A  second  visit  will 
accomplish  more  than  the  first.  The  Apostle  Paul's  three 
journeys  v/ere  a  good  model  for  the  modern  missionary. 

Except  in  countries  where  there  is  a  considerable 
number  able  to  read,  Bible  and  tract  distribution  belong 
to  the  educative  rather  than  the  pioneer  period  ;  then  it  is 
indispensable.  Among  people  who  can  read,  or  who 
have  already  some  general  idea  of  the  truth,  the  wide 
spread  of  the  Bible  either  as  a  whole  or  in  part,  and  of 
tracts  has  been  invaluable.  Especially  is  this  true  of 
Turkey,  Syria,  Persia,  and  Roman  Catholic  countries. 
In  India,  also,  it  has  been  carried  on  with  great  success. 
In  China,  however,  there  are  many  who  question  its 
value  as  a  pioneer  method,  owing  to  the  fact  that  so  few 
get  any  idea  at  all  from  the  printed  word,  except  as  it  is 
attended  by  explanation,  or  if  they  get  an  idea  it  is  so 
distorted  as  to  do  more  harm  than  good. 


l6o  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Reaching  the  Women. — No  problem  has  faced  the 
pioneer  missionary  that  has  been  more  difficult  than 
that  of  reaching  the  women  of  the  different  fields. 
Everywhere  they  were  degraded.  Not  always  as  in- 
accessible and  as  bitterly  oppressed  as  in  Moslem  lands, 
yet  everywhere  the  drudge,  with  no  hope  for  this  life,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  life  to  come.  Yet  with  all  their 
disadvantages,  their  power  was  great,  and  any  possibility 
of  developing  Christian  life  among  men  was  contingent 
upon  reaching  the  women.  To  do  this,  however,  was 
simply  impossible  for  men.  Women  alone  could  reach 
women.  The  stories  of  the  early  experiences  of  the  wives 
of  missionaries  brought  the  assistance  of  unmarried 
women  and  the  marvellous  growth  of  women's  organiza- 
tions. In  the  beginning  these  relied  upon  much  the  same 
methods  as  in  reaching  men,  except  that  there  was  little 
of  public  address.  The  women  of  the  East  were  uni- 
formly ignorant,  even  of  the  most  ordinary  matters  of  life 
outside  of  their  limited  sphere,  and  in  many  cases  the 
first  essential  was  to  awaken  the  mind  so  that  it  could 
think  and  act.  Spiritual  life  has  no  small  connection 
with  intellectual  life,  and  the  being  who  never  thinks  has 
litde,  if  any,  conception  of  the  need  of  salvation.  This 
instruction  at  the  beginning  was,  as  a  rule,  of  the  most 
primary  character,  although  not  a  few  instances  have 
been  found  of  women  who  seem  to  have  been  already 
taught  of  the  Spirit,  and  so  were  prepared  to  accept  the 
truth  as  soon  as  it  is  made  known. 

In  the  more  strictly  zenana  work,  as  in  the  general 
work  for  women,  the  chief  method  is  house-to-house 
visiting,  reading  and  explanation  of  the  Bible,  and  from 
it  has  grown  up  the  very  extensive  employment  of  what 
are  termed  Bible- women.     These  are  natives  trained  by 


Evangelism  lOl 

the  missionaries,  and  who  have  access  to  homes  which 
the  foreigner  might  find  it  difficult  to  enter.  They  have 
done  a  noble  service  in  many  fields  and  among  many 
classes  of  people.  A  recent  development  in  reaching  the 
women  of  China  has  been  the  establishment  of  public 
lectures  in  connection  witli  the  Women's  College  at 
Peking.  These  are  given  by  Chinese  women  of  promi- 
nence as  well  as  by  missionaries,  and  cover  a  wide  range 
of  subjects.  They  have  commanded  the  interest  of 
Chinese  and  Manchu  women  including  many  of  rank. 

Gospel  Aids. — For  reaching  large  numbers  of  people, 
and  bringing  them  within  the  reach  of  the  gospel  mes- 
sage, probably  no  method  has  been  so  uniformly  success- 
ful as  medical  work.  Even  the  bitterest  prejudice  has 
repeatedly  been  forced  to  yield  entrance  to  the  phy- 
sician, and  the  records  of  medical  missionaries  in 
breaking  down  opposition  have  been  among  the  marvels 
of  the  history  of  missions.  The  methods  need  no 
special  description.  There  is  the  private  practice,  the 
dispensary  with  its  hours  for  consultation,  the  hospital 
with  its  wards,  its  in-patients  and  out-patients.  There 
is  medical  treatment,  surgical  treatment,  and  nursing. 
All  the  apparatus  and  arrangement  of  the  best  modern 
science  are  transferred  to  the  remotest  countries  of  the 
world,  and  brought  into  the  service  of  the  Master  to  un- 
lock doors  and  open  hearts.  As  a  rule,  medical 
missionaries  are  careful,  while  improving  every  oppor- 
tunity for  spiritual  counsel,  not  to  make  it  appear  that 
their  help  is  conditioned  on  the  acceptance  of  their  faith. 
The  counsel  to  ''sin  no  more"  follows  the  cure  now, 
even  as  it  did  with  the  Saviour. 

Other  methods  of  varying  value  are  used  in  differ- 
ent  lands,  and    among   the   most   successful   is   music. 


l62  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Especially  has  this  been  the  case  in  India  among  the 
Telugus,  where  it  has  been  used  with  marvellous  power. 
In  other  lands  it  has  belonged  to  a  later  stage  of  Chris- 
tian development.  More  recently  there  has  been  an 
increased  willingness  to  take  advantage  of  the  pictorial 
in  attracting,  as  well  as  instructing  those  outside  the 
Christian  community.  The  stereopticon  has  been  used 
with  great  effect.  To-day  the  dividing  line  between  the 
pioneer  and  the  extension  work  on  the  one  hand  and  the 
development  of  the  Christian  life  on  the  other,  can 
scarcely  be  drawn  on  the  foreign  field  even  as  it  cannot 
at  home.  The  Church  reaching  out  draws  all  to  itself, 
by  any  means  within  its  reach. 


XI 

EDUCATION 

THE  second  step  in  mission  work  is  the  develop- 
ing of  Christian  character  in  those  who  have 
accepted  Christ  as  their  Saviour.  How  much 
this  means  no  one  can  fully  appreciate  until  he  has  seen 
the  condition  of  non-Christian  communities,  and  even 
of  communities  where  the  Christian  faith  is  acknowl- 
edged, but  Christian  life  is  understood  to  be  little  if  any- 
thing more  than  observance  of  certain  rites  of  worship. 
It  is  true  that  missionary  history  shows  a  number  of  in- 
stances of  remarkable  development  of  Christian  character, 
even  among  those  who  only  a  short  time  before  were 
steeped  in  the  vices  of  heathenism.  To  such  instances 
is  undoubtedly  due  in  considerable  degree  the  idea  that 
all  that  is  necessary  is  for  a  soul  to  accept  Christ  and  the 
rest  will  come  of  itself.  How  fallacious  this  idea  is  will 
be  easily  seen  by  a  careful  study  of  Paul's  epistles, 
especially  those  to  the  Corinthians,  and  of  the  history  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  missions,  when  the  exhortations 
of  Xavier  and  others  were  not  followed  by  adequate  in- 
struction as  to  what  true  Christian  life  implies.  It  is 
generally  recognized  that,  as  has  already  been  said,  the 
heaviest  blow  Christianity  has  ever  received  was  its 
proclamation  as  the  religion  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
which  resulted  in  the  bringing  into  the  Church  crowds 
of  men  and  women  utterly  ignorant  of  the  simplest  ele- 
ments of  practical  Christian   life.     Modern  Protestant 

163 


164  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

missionaries  look  with  rejoicing,  indeed,  and  yet  with  a 
measure  of  dread,  upon  the  great  influx  of  thousands 
into  the  Church  in  India,  simply  because  of  the  almost 
absolute  impossibility  of  giving  them  such  training  as  is 
essential  to  their  proper  growth  in  Christian  life.  The 
methods  adopted  for  the  solution  of  the  problem  thus 
presented  may  be  included  under  three  heads :  Bible 
Translation  and  Distribution,  Education,  and  a  Christian 
Literature. 

Bible  Translation. — The  preparation  of  the  Bible  in 
a  form  intelligible  to  non- Christian  people  is  the  first  step 
in  missionary  work.  The  use  of  the  Bible  belongs  chiefly 
to  the  second  period  of  the  development  of  Christian 
character.  Among  such  peoples  as  the  Armenians, 
Greeks,  Nestorians,  Copts,  and  in  such  countries  as 
Spain,  Mexico,  Brazil,  it  has  been  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant evangelizing  agencies,  and  wherever  communities 
of  Christians  have  been  established  and  developed  it  be- 
comes an  evangelizing  agency  of  great  value  among 
those  who,  by  one  means  or  another,  have  become  some- 
what acquainted  with  Christian  truth.  Its  great  service 
has  been  seen  throughout  the  history  of  missions  in  the 
building  up  of  Christian  character,  and  the  work  of  any 
mission  has  been  substantial  and  permanent  in  direct 
proportion  to  the  emphasis  placed  upon  its  use  in  in- 
struction in  the  schools,  as  well  as  in  the  pulpit,  and  par- 
ticularly in  private  devotion.  The  initial  influences  of 
Christianity  have  all  through  the  history  of  the  Church 
been  chiefly  personal,  the  power  of  the  Spirit  making 
itself  manifest  in  human  life  and  through  human  speech, 
thus  opening  the  way  to  the  more  perfect  and  complete 
revelation  of  God  to  the  soul  through  His  Word.  While 
there  have  been  many  remarkable  instances  of  the  way 


Education  165 

in  which  the  Bible  has  directly  reached  the  heart  without 
the  intervention  of  any  human  agency,  though  its  work 
has  been  more  evident  in  the  later  stage  of  the  develop- 
ment of  Christian  character. 

The  history  of  the  preparation  of  the  different  versions 
of  the  Bible  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  departments 
of  the  study  of  missions.  It  reveals  an  amount  of  intel- 
lectual a;bility,  a  patience  of  research,  a  knowledge  of 
language,  of  human  nature  and  the  workings  of  the 
human  mind,  and  above  all  an  understanding  of  the 
deep  things  of  God,  which  would  give  complete  proof, 
if  proof  were  needed,  of  the  direct  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  on  those  who  prepared  them.  The  early  ages 
offered  some  remarkable  instances,  but  the  great  advance 
has  been  during  the  past  century.  Carey,  Judson,  Mor- 
rison, Hepburn,  Van  Dyck,  Schauffler,  Riggs,  Moffat, 
Bingham,  are  only  a  few  of  the  many  names  which  will 
occur  to  any  one  familiar  with  missions.  The  story  of 
the  methods  they  have  adopted  to  gain  a  correct  idea  of 
the  words  of  the  native  languages,  of  the  way  in  which 
in  numerous  instances  they  have  really  made  those  lan- 
guages, furnishing  not  merely  characters,  but  syntax, 
would  fill  a  volume  in  itself.  Not  less  interesting  would 
be  the  detailed  statement  of  the  way  in  which  the  Bible 
has  been  furnished  to  the  people :  the  printing  and  bind- 
ing, distribution  by  colporteurs  and  in  book-shops,  by 
travellers,  by  merchants,  occasionally  by  means  absolutely 
unknown.  The  great  Bible  societies — the  British  and 
Foreign,  the  American,  the  National  Society  of  Scotland, 
besides  many  others  in  Europe — have  done  a  noble  work 
and  one  which,  if  less  noticeable  in  some  respects,  is  not 
less  important  than  that  of  those  organizations  known 
more  distinctively  as  missionary  societies. 


l66  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Free  Distribution. — One  fact  deserves  special  note. 
The  experience  of  missionaries  in  every  land  has  been  that 
the  free  gift  of  the  Scriptures  not  only  fails,  as  a  rule,  to 
accomplish  good,  but  does  harm.  Men  value  a  possession 
in  proportion  as  it  has  cost  them  something.  The  result 
is  that  grants  direct  to  the  people  have  been  very  few  in 
number.  Where  the  word  is  used  in  the  reports  of  the 
societies,  it  means  usually  grants  to  other  organizations 
for  distribution  as  they  may  judge  best.  There  has  how- 
ever risen  a  difhculty.  The  cost  of  publication  of  the 
Bible  in  the  languages  of  mission  fields  is  very  great. 
Were  a  price  to  be  put  upon  the  book  which  would  cover 
that  cost,  it  would  place  it  beyond  the  means  of  the 
great  mass  of  purchasers.  The  Bible  societies  have  there- 
fore adopted  the  custom  on  mission  ground  of  fixing  a 
price  for  the  cheaper  editions  such  that  the  poorest  by  a 
little  effort  can  secure  one.  In  this  price  the  market 
wages,  cost  of  living,  etc.,  are  all  considered.  The 
balance  is  the  society's  gift  to  the  people  and  constitutes 
a  most  important  item  in  the  cost  of  management. 

The  chief  Bible  work  on  mission  ground  being  carried 
on  by  the  three  societies  mentioned  above,  they  have 
come  to  a  general  agreement  as  to  the  publication  of 
versions  and  the  occupation  of  territory,  so  as  to  interfere 
as  little  as  possible  with  one  another.  In  the  conduct  of 
their  work  they  are  represented  by  agents,  who  are  in 
charge  of  extended  territories.  These  supervise  the  prep- 
aration of  translations  and  the  printing  and  binding  of 
the  various  editions.  The  distribution  is  chiefly  by 
colporteurs  or  booksellers  under  the  immediate  direction 
of  these  agents.  In  most  cases  the  colporteurs  carry  only 
Scriptures,  but  occasionally  they  have  distributed  also 
general  Christian  literature. 


Education  167 

The  extent  to  which  this  work  of  Bible  translation  and 
publication  has  been  carried  is  indicated  by  the  state- 
ment that,  with  perhaps  some  minor  exceptions,  there  is 
not  a  race,  even  in  Africa  or  the  Pacific  Islands,  that  has 
not  the  whole  Bible  or  at  least  some  portion  of  it,  in  lan- 
guage that  it  can  understand,  while  some  of  the  versions, 
notably  the  Arabic  and  Chinese,  reach  almost  untold 
millions. 

Need  and  Methods. — The  Bible,  however,  must  be 
first  read,  then  understood.  The  illiteracy  of  mission 
lands  has  been  and  still  is  appalling.  More  than  that,  it 
is  with  difficulty  that  even  the  simplest  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity are  apprehended,  at  least  so  far  as  they  belong  to 
the  development  of  Christian  life.  The  story  of  the  Cross 
needs  no  commentary,  but  many  of  the  precepts  of 
Christ,  and  especially  the  higher  truths  of  Christianity, 
are  so  foreign  to  the  minds  of  non-Christians  that  they 
need  explanation.  The  old  idea  of  the  natural  incapacity 
of  the  Asiatic  or  African  mind  has  been  pretty  thoroughly 
disproved,  yet  after  generations  of  non-training  some 
education  is  needed  in  order  to  clear  thinking  and  full 
comprehension. 

Thus  the  first  step  beyond  distinctive  evangelism,  the 
proclamation  of  the  gospel,  has  always  been  the  explanation 
of  that  gospel,  sometimes  in  the  form  of  expository  preach- 
ing, sometimes  in  that  of  Bible  classes.  Both  are  used 
constantly  and  with  great  effect.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said 
that  by  far  the  greater  part  of  missionary  preaching  is  ex- 
pository. The  set  discourse,  taking  up  some  theme  and 
developing  it  which  is  so  common  in  American  pulpits, 
is  used  comparatively  little  on  mission  ground  except  in 
the  later  stages  of  church  life.  Bible  classes,  giving  op- 
portunity for  more  informal  intercourse  are  very  com- 


i68  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

mon,  and  the  intervening  time  is  frequently  given  to  visit- 
ing and  conversation,  in  which  the  topic  is  continued  and 
the  lessons  are  applied  to  the  daily  life.  Hand  in  hand 
with  this  in  many  lands  is  instruction  in  reading ;  and 
we  find  the  beginning  of  what  is  usually  called  education, 
including  the  whole  system  of  schools,  from  the  kinder- 
garten to  the  university,  corresponding  in  all  essential  de- 
tails to  those  in  Christian  lands.  The  occasion  for  the 
estabhshment  of  this  system  has  been  threefold  :  (i)  the 
instruction  of  children  of  families  brought  within  the 
influence  of  the  gospel,  that  they  may  grow  up  into 
Christian  knowledge  and  naturally  assume  Christian  faith, 
making  thus  the  foundation  of  an  intelligent  Christian 
community ;  (2)  the  preparation  of  native  preachers, 
teachers,  and  helpers,  competent  to  assist  the  missionaries 
and  act  as  leaders  themselves ;  (3)  the  general  diffusion 
of  information  based  upon  Christian  knowledge  as  a 
guard  and  a  weapon  against  the  surrounding  false  faiths. 
Of  these  the  first  two  have  been  recognized  on  every  hand 
as  entirely  within  the  province  of  the  missionary,  and 
they  have  been  adopted  to  a  considerable  degree  even  by 
those  organizations  which  lay  most  stress  upon  the  distinc- 
tively evangelistic  character  of  their  work.  Children 
must  be  taught,  first  to  read,  then  the  other  elementary 
branches  of  knowledge.  If  not  by  the  missionary,  then 
it  will  be  by  non-Christians. 

The  School. — Many  a  veteran  missionary  has  not  es- 
teemed it  time  or  ability  wasted  to  give  children  their  first 
knowledge  of  letters  as  the  foundation  for  Christian  life. 
But  the  school  has  been  far  more  than  this.  It  has  been  a 
mighty  power  for  the  extension  of  the  gospel,  and  many  a 
family  has  been  reached  through  the  children  that  other- 
wise would   have  remained  ignorant  of  Christian  truth. 


Education  169 

The  missionary,  however,  cannot  continue  this  work. 
His  place  must  be  taken  by  those  native  to  the  land,  and 
who  when  themselves  trained  can  do  that  work  far  better 
than  he.  The  teacher  again  develops  into  the  preacher, 
and  the  scholar  grows  to  take  his  part  in  the  Christian 
community,  so  that  both"  the  personal  welfare  of  the 
children,  and  the  future  of  the  community  and  the 
Church,  demand  a  constantly  higher  quality  of  instruc- 
tion in  order  to  meet  the  ever  increasing  demands  for  the 
best  that  modern  research  and  thought  can  give.  No 
man  or  woman  comes  under  the  influence  of  Chris- 
tian thought  without  developing  intellectual  activity. 
That  activity  must  be  encouraged,  and  at  the  same 
time  directed,  if  it  is  to  be  kept  in  right  and  safe 
lines.  Any  restriction  in  the  education  of  native 
preachers  or  teachers  so  that  they  cannot  keep  up  with 
the  demands  of  their  communities,  has  always  proved 
harmful. 

Higher  Education. — There  comes  a  time,  however, 
when  in  the  natural  development  it  is  inevitable  that  the 
schools  should  be  broadened  out  to  include  secular  topics 
of  the  highest  grade  for  the  benefit  of  the  general  public, 
and  then  the  question  assumes  another  phase,  in  regard 
to  which  there  has  been  much  discussion.  Especially  is 
this  true  in  regard  to  India,  where  this  department  of 
mission  work  has  been  carried  further  than  in  any  other 
land.  In  the  early  history  of  the  American  Board  mis- 
sions there,  the  well-known  secretary  of  the  Board,  Dr. 
Rufus  Anderson,  visited  India  for  the  purpose  of  investi- 
gating the  question,  and  the  final  decision  was  in  favour 
of  the  schools.  The  argument  for  them  is  stated  so 
clearly  in  the  action  of  the  missionaries  in  Ceylon,  in  re- 
gard to  the  founding  of  a  college  as  early  as  1820,  that 


ijo  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

we  give  the  following  quotation  from  Anderson's  "  Mis- 
sions in  India,"  p.  147. 

"  Those  unacquainted  with  the  existing  state  of  things 
in  India  cannot  understand  the  hindrances  to  the  recep- 
tion   of  the  gospel  in  that  country.     Not  one  of  those 
evidences  on  which  Christianity  rests  its  claims  at  home 
can  be  fully  apprehended  here.     The  internal  evidences 
from  the  excellence  and   sublimity  of  the  sacred  Scrip- 
tures are  little  understood,  and  the  external  evidences 
cannot  be  apprehended  at  all.     If  we  speak  of  prophecies 
which  have  been  fulfilled,  the  history  of  the  times  when 
they  were  spoken   and  when  accomplished  is  alike  un- 
known.    If  of  miracles,    we   are   told   of  unnumbered 
miracles  vastly  more  marvellous  than  any  of  which  we  can 
speak.     Besides,  the  belief  that  miracles  constantly  occur 
even  now  hinders  their  being  received  as  a  divine  attesta- 
tion to  the  truth  of  Christianity.     Before  these  evidences 
can  be  appreciated  by  the  people  of  India,  they  must 
first  understand  something  of  history  and  enough  of  true 
science  at  least  to  know  what  a  miracle  is.     They  must 
learn  to  bring  their  credulous  belief  in  everything  marvel- 
lous to  the  test  of  reason,  and  understand  the  difference 
between  truth  and   fable,  and  think,  compare,  reflect— 
things  which  the  great  mass  in  India  never  do.     General 
knowledge  must   be  disseminated.     It  might  easily  be 
shown   that   so   contrary  to    fact   are   the   principles  of 
geology,  natural  philosophy,  and  astronomy  as  laid  down 
in  their  sacred  books  that  even  a  superficial  acquaintance 
with    these   branches   of    science   would    explode    their 
systems    and  materially  affect  the  credit  of   the  books 
which  contain  them." 

What  was  true  in  India  has  been  true  in  varying  de- 
gree in  every  mission  land,  and  as  a  result  the  spread  of 


Education  1 7 1 

missions  has  been  attended  by  the  development  of 
systems  of  schools  of  all .  grades,  from  the  kindergarten 
and  primary  to  the  high  school,  the  college  and  the 
university.  Even  when  as  in  Japan  the  government  has 
instituted  its  own  system  on  the  basis  of  Western  experi- 
ence, and  with  advanced  methods,  there  has  been  a  def- 
inite place,  recognized  by  all,  for  the  distinctively  mission 
school.  With  this  development,  however,  has  come  again 
the  question  of  the  wisest  use  of  mission  funds.  Is  it  best 
to  use  funds  for  instruction  in  the  higher  mathematics, 
and  thus  be  unable  to  send  colporteurs  or  evangelists  into 
neglected  fields  ?  Again,  missionary  education,  having 
always  been  of  the  highest  quality,  has  invariably  attracted 
many  who  cared  little  or  nothing  for  Christian  truth,  but 
had  a  great  fondness  for  Christian  "  loaves  and  fishes." 

Development. — The  result  has  been  that,  to  a  very 
great  degree  the  colleges  have  been  placed  on  a  distinctly 
educational  basis,  thoroughly  Christian  in  character  and 
missionary  in  purpose,  aiming  not  merely  to  Christianize 
the  people  in  the  broadest  sense  but  to  bring  the  Chris- 
tian life  into  the  experience  of  the  individual  student ;  they 
are  provided  for  by  special  gifts  or  endowments,  and  to 
a  considerable  degree  meet  their  running  expenses  from 
tuition  fees.  Some  of  these  colleges  have  been  under  the 
direct  care  of  missionaries,  but  all  have  been  in  hearty 
sympathy  with  mission  work,  and  the  service  they  have 
rendered  has  been  beyond  estimation.  The  mere  list 
would  fill  pages.  Mention  can  only  be  made  of  the 
Scotch  Colleges  at  Madras,  Calcutta  and  Bombay,  Robert 
College  at  Constantinople,  the  Syrian  Protestant  College 
at  Beirut,  the  Canton  and  North  China  Colleges,  the 
Meiji  Gakuin  and  Aoyama  Gakuin  in  Japan,  not  one  of 
these,  however,  doing  better  or  more  notable  work  than 


172  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

many  others.  Unique  in  its  position  is  the  Doshisha 
University  in  Japan,  carrying  out  the  missionary  con- 
ception under  Japanese  direction,  in  this  but  leading  the 
way  in  which  other  colleges  will  doubtless  follow  as 
Hindus,  Chinese,  Africans  come  to  realize  and  share  in 
the  higher  reach  of  Christian  education.  In  this  the 
work  of  the  World's  Student  Federation  is  most 
efficient. 

It  is  difficult  to  apportion  the  results  of  such  high 
grade  education.  Their  general  effect  on  the  community 
is  illustrated  by  the  testimony  of  a  British  governor  in 
India,  who  said  that  the  people  preferred  the  missionary 
schools  *'  partly  because  the  standard  of  teaching  is 
higher,  and  the  staff  of  supervisors  superior,  but  also  be- 
cause there  is  moral  and  religious  training  given  in  them, 
and  the  native  of  India  knows  perfectly  well  how  to 
appreciate  that."  The  same  official  says,  "  The  mission 
schools  have  turned  out  some  of  our  most  valuable 
officers.  They  have  set  a  standard  which  has  been  of 
incalculable  value  to  the  Department  of  Education 
generally."  What  Bulgaria  owes  to  Robert  College, 
what  Egypt  owes  to  the  colleges  at  Beirut  and  Assiout, 
cannot  be  told  in  a  single  chapter.  Not  less  notable  is 
the  service  of  the  colleges  and  higher  schools  for  women, 
at  Constantinople,  Turkey;  Wellington,  South  Africa; 
Kob6,  Japan ;  Lucknow,  India ;  Madrid,  Spain,  and 
many  others. 

Training  Native  Leaders. — But  apart  from  these 
more  general  lines  of  influence,  these  colleges  have  done 
a  service  of  the  utmost  importance  for  the  Church  in  the 
preparation  of  those  who  are  to  be  the  instructors  and 
leaders  of  the  people.  The  necessity  of  raising  up  a 
native  agency,  to  use  the  technical   term  employed  by 


Education  173 

the  mission  boards,  is  recognized  on  every  hand.  It  is 
sufficient  to  note  the  fact  that  from  these  schools,  some- 
times after  passing  through  the  various  grades,  have 
come  for  the  most  part  the  men  and  women  who  are  to- 
day the  most  prominent  factors  in  moulding  the  life,  in- 
tellectual, moral,  and  spirit-ual,  of  Asia  and  Africa,  as 
well  as  of  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  South  America  and 
Mexico,  and  even  to  a  degree  of  Europe.  They  are  not 
only  doing  a  work  that  the  missionary  could  not  do,  but 
frequently  do  the  work  he  has  done  better  than  he. 
There  are  few,  if  any,  missionaries  who  can  preach  as 
effectively  as  many  native  pastors  do.  There  are  multi- 
tudes, not  merely  of  men,  but  of  women,  whose  ability 
to  instruct  is  not  surpassed  by  the  best-trained  teachers 
in  our  own  land,  while  their  comprehension  of  the  needs 
of  their  scholars,  their  peculiar  difficulties,  temptations, 
abilities,  is  such  as  no  foreigner  can  have.  Their 
training  has  been  for  the  most  part  in  high  or  normal 
schools  and  in  the  theological  classes  or  seminaries.  In 
the  more  completely  organized  missions,  where  the  work 
has  been  carried  on  for  a  number  of  years,  these  have 
their  regular  faculties  and  courses  of  instruction ;  in 
newer  fields,  and  where  the  means  of  inter-communica- 
tion are  not  of  the  best,  the  instruction  has  been  more 
informal.  The  development  in  general  has  corresponded 
very  closely  to  that  in  America,  where  in  the  early  days 
men  studied  for  the  ministry,  not  in  seminaries,  but 
privately  with  pastors. 

Station  Schools Another  class  of  schools  less  prom- 
inent, perhaps,  than  the  colleges,  but  not  less  important, 
are  the  schools  under  the  direct  control  of  the  mission- 
aries in  the  mission  stations.  There  are  both  day-schools 
and  boarding-schools,  and  they  are  graded  more  or  less 


174  1"^^  Missionary  Enterprise 

thoroughly,  according  to  circumstances.  Their  number 
is  very  large,  the  American  Board  alone  having  1,468, 
while  the  total  given  by  the  Missionary  Review  of  the 
World  is  29,868,  and  this  can  scarcely  be  considered 
complete.  In  the  lower  grades  the  tuition  is  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  free,  although  an  effort  is  made  every- 
where to  get  some  financial  return  from  each  scholar, 
both  that  the  expense  of  the  school  may  be  lessened  and 
that  the  principle  of  self-support  may  be  impressed  upon 
the  people. 

Through  them  the  missionary  reaches  many  homes,  but 
perhaps  more  important  still  is  the  influence  exerted  upon 
the  scholars,  both  through  instruction  and  the  contact  with 
Christian  life.  In  every  land  the  strength  of  the  Church 
is  in  its  laity,  including  both  men  and  women.  Upon 
their  ideals  and  principles,  almost  more  than  upon  those 
of  the  leaders,  depends  the  community  and  national  tone 
of  life.  The  proportion  of  these  in  mission  lands  who 
can  hope  for  even  a  partial  college  course  is  very  small, 
but  the  number  who  through  these  more  private  schools 
have  entered  into  a  conception  of  a  Christian  civilization 
is  very  large,  and  the  results  are  seen  in  the  marvellous 
growth  of  late  years  in  Christian  communities.  Perhaps 
chief  among  them  are  the  schools  for  girls,  for  from 
these  go  not  only  the  teachers  but  the  wives  and  mothers, 
with  new  visions  of  what  a  home  may  be,  to  train  up 
children  in  a  manner  of  which  their  mothers  had  no 
conception,  and  to  exercise  an  influence  over  their  hus- 
bands of  an  entirely  different  type  from  that  of  the  non- 
Christian  women. 

Industrial  Training. — Within  the  past  twenty  years 
there  has  developed  a  line  of  education  which  while  not 
novel  in  itself,  was  formerly  supposed  to  be  adapted  only 


Education  I'j^ 

to  the  crudest  forms  of  community  life.  Industrial  train- 
ing in  some  sort  has  been  practiced  by  individual  mis- 
sionaries and  by  many  of  the  German  societies  from  the 
beginning  of  modern  missions,  largely  in  consequence  of 
the  peculiar  conditions  attending  the  acceptance  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  terrible  persecution  and  social  ostracism 
that  the  earlier  converts  suffered,  with  the  effect  in  many 
cases  of  cutting  them  off  from  their  means  of  livelihood, 
compelled  the  missionaries  to  study  the  trades  and 
industries.  So  also  when  famine  came,  as  it  did  so 
often  in  India,  and  it  was  conceded  by  all  that  the  most 
efficient  help  was  that  which  enabled  people  to  help 
themselves,  various  schemes  were  devised  for  training  in 
different  industries.  In  Africa  particularly  the  need  of 
new  industries  was  manifest  as  Christianity  brought  new 
wants,  and  houses  took  the  place  of  huts,  necessitating 
builders ;  clothing  came  into  use,  necessitating  manu- 
facturers, weavers,  tailors,  and  so  on  through  the  multi- 
form developments  of  the  new  life.  The  Scotch  with 
their  intensely  practical  conceptions  were  the  first  to 
really  emphasize  the  missionary  value  of  this  work,  and 
Lovedale  Institute,  established  in  1841,  will  always  stand 
as  the  pioneer  of  industrial  schools,  aiming  to  use  the 
training  of  the  hand  to  assist  that  of  the  brain  and  heart. 
It  has  been,  however,  only  of  comparatively  recent 
years  that  the  conception  of  industrial  schools  as  a  positive 
and  necessary  element  in  moral  and  spiritual  training  as 
well  as  in  developing  civilized  conditions  of  communities 
has  come  to  the  front.  At  the  opening  of  this  century 
there  were  indeed  over  150  industrial  schools  or  industrial 
departments  connected  with  other  schools,  but  even  then 
it  was  looked  upon  rather  as  a  sort  of  makeshift,  and  it 
needed  the  vigorous  appeals  of  those  who  had  had  experi- 


176  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

ence  to  convince  the  Church  at  home  that  it  was  really 
worth  while  to  expend  some  money  in  training  artisans 
as  well  as  preachers.  With  practical  demonstration  both 
at  home  and  abroad,  technical  training  has  advanced  rap- 
idly and  has  its  place  with  that  in  literary  lines,  as  an  essen- 
tial part  in  developing  the  Christian  citizen.  Every  non- 
Christian  religion  involves  as  a  necessary  consequence  the 
degradation  of  labour,  and  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties 
in  mission  work  at  least  in  the  great  majority  of  cases, 
has  been  the  ingrained  feeling  of  the  people  that  manual 
labour  lowered  a  man's  social  position.  For  a  man  to  be 
seen  carrying  a  bundle  or  a  bag  was  injurious  to  his 
standing,  while  any  actual  use  of  a  tool  was  something 
not  to  be  thought  of.  Under  such  conditions  a  virile 
Ciiristianity  is  impossible,  and  in  some  of  the  newer  mis- 
sions as  in  the  Sudan,  as  a  result  of  experiences  else- 
where, instruction  in  agriculture  takes  precedence  of  the 
spelling  book  as  a  means  of  training.  Consecutive  action 
is  more  often  than  some  realize,  a  prerequisite  to  con- 
secutive thought. 

Educational  Literature. — One  great  problem  that 
has  always  faced  the  missionary  has  been  that  of  furnish- 
ing intellectual  food  for  the  awakened  mind.  To  give 
ability  to  read  and  then  fail  to  supply  material  leaves  the 
situation  almost  worse  than  it  was  before.  The  newly 
trained  teacher  and  preacher  must  have  books,  or  they 
cannot  grow ;  and  the  same  thing  is  true  of  the  members 
of  the  churches.  Moreover,  the  extension  of  education 
through  the  community  has  always  resulted  in  an  eager- 
ness for  information,  which  will  find  some  means  for  satis- 
fying the  want.  A  missionary  in  South  Africa  found  a 
pupil  in  his  school  reading  a  trashy  English  paper-cov- 
ered novel.     *'  Why  do  you  read  such  stuff?  "     "I  want 


Education  177 

to  perfect  my  English,  and  this  is  cheap."  It  was  pub- 
lished in  Providence,  Rhode  Island.  Similar  needs  ap- 
pear on  every  hand,  yet  so  heavy  has  been  the  strain  of 
what  has  been  generally  considered  the  "regular"  mis- 
sionary work,  that  for  a  long  time  in  all  the  force  of  all 
the  societies,  English  or  American,  but  one  ■  man  was  set 
apart  distinctively  for  this  line  of  missionary  influence. 
Dr.  John  Murdock  of  India,  was  the  pioneer  of  Christian 
literature,  but  of  later  years  the  absolute  necessity  has 
been  recognized  more  widely  and  the  supply  has  been 
greatly  augmented,  particularly  in  China.  The  greatest 
increase  has  come  since  there  has  grown  up  a  class  of 
educated  persons,  familiar  as  few  foreigners  can  be,  with 
the  mode  of  thought  of  the  people.  The  situation  will  be 
partially  understood  by  trying  to  conceive  of  Americans 
as  dependent  for  their  intellectual  life  on  translations  of 
German  or  Russian  books,  or  on  papers  edited  by  Ger- 
mans, Frenchmen,  or  Italians. 

There  is  perhaps  no  department  of  missionary  activity 
that  illustrates  better  the  way  in  which  mission  methods 
have  been  adapted  to  the  very  diverse  needs  of  different 
communities,  than  does  this  of  training  the  immature  con- 
vert into  the  Christian  citizen.  It  has  enlisted  the  ear- 
nest thought  and  faithful  labour  of  the  wisest  and  most 
devoted  missionaries.  The  result  has  won  the  unstinted 
praise  of  every  one  who  has  taken  the  pains  to  inform 
himself  as  to  the  facts,  including  government  officials  of 
every  class,  travellers,  writers,  Christian  and  non-Chris- 
tian, Asiatic  as  well  as  European  and  American. 


XII 

THE  NATIVE  CHURCH 

THE  solution  of  the  third  problem,  how  to 
develop  and  extend  the  work  commenced  by 
evangelism  and  solidified  by  education,  is  found 
in  the  organization  of  the  native  church.  The  term  is 
used  here  in  a  general  rather  than  a  technical  sense,  to 
include  all  the  forms  of  organized  churches  established 
on  mission  fields  by  the  various  societies.  We  note  here 
some  characteristics  of  all,  and  some  of  the  more  imme- 
diate problems  to  be  solved  and  difficulties  to  be  over- 
come by  each,  whatever  its  ecclesiastical  organization  or 
relation  to  the  home  churches. 

A  native  church  on  the  mission  field  is  a  church  whose 
officers  as  well  as  members  are  native  to  the  land  where 
it  exists  and  whose  organization  and  character  are  in  har- 
mony with  the  peculiar  needs  and  capabilities  of  the  peo- 
ple. It  may  or  may  not  be  organically  connected  with 
the  church  whose  missionaries  have  organized  it.  The 
essential  feature  which  marks  it  as  a  native  church  is  that 
it  is,  at  least  to  a  considerable  degree,  independent  of 
foreign  control,  self-directing,  self-propagating.  If  we 
look  through  the  history  of  missions,  we  find  that  it  was 
the  rule  in  the  early  centuries  to  establish  such  churches. 
The  work  of  the  apostles  and  their  immediate  successors 
was  to  raise  up  and  develop  in  each  community  a  church 
homogeneous  to  that  community.  The  same  custom 
largely    prevailed    in    the  work    of    the    early    fathers. 

178 


The  Native  Church  179 

As  the  number  of  local  churches  increased  and  ecclesias- 
tical controversies  resulted  in  divisions,  forming  the 
Roman  Catholic  and  Oriental  Churches,  including  the 
various  subdivisions,  Armenian,  Greek,  Abyssinian, 
Coptic,  etc.,  still  the  local  or  national  character  fully  as 
much  as  the  doctrinal  differences,  controlled  in  the  type 
of  the  organization  which  has  continued  to  the  present 
day,  forming  what  have  become  national  churches.  So, 
also,  the  work  of  Augustine  among  the  Saxons,  of  Ulfilas 
among  the  Goths,  of  Ansgar  among  the  Danes,  of  Boni- 
face among  the  Germans,  resulted  in  the  building  up  of 
churches  which,  while  under  the  general  control  of  the 
Roman  Church,  were  still  to  a  considerable  degree  in- 
dependent of  minute  direction  from  Rome.  They  had 
their  own  priests,  their  own  character.  With  the  devel- 
opment of  the  monastic  orders,  however,  there  came  a 
change.  The  missionaries  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  of  the 
post-Reformation  period  were  members  of  these  orders 
and  carried  into  their  mission  work  the  peculiar  ideas  of 
ecclesiastical  rule  held  by  them.  The  result  was  that  the 
distinctly  native  character  of  the  mission  church  was  to  a 
considerable  degree  lost.  As  promising  converts  ap- 
peared they  were  sent  back  to  Europe  for  training  in  the 
orders  before  they  were  allowed  to  exercise  their  priestly 
functions  among  the  people,  and  when  they  came  back 
they  were  less  Indian,  Chinese,  Japanese,  than  they  were 
Roman,  whether  Italian,  French,  or  Spanish.  Of  late 
years  there  has  been  something  of  a  change,  and  the  pres- 
ent Roman  Catholic  work,  especially  that  in  Africa,  ap- 
pears to  be  more  native  in  its  character. 

Individual  Development  Necessary. — Modern 
Protestant  missions  have  from  the  very  first  maintained 
that  the  churches,  whether  general  or  local,  which  they 


l8o  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

founded  must  be  distinctly  native  in  their  character  if  the 
work  they  are  to  do  in  self-development  and  extension  is 
to  be  of  a  permanent  quality.  It  has  generally  if  not 
universally,  been  acknowledged  that  Western  ideas  are  in 
some  important  respects  quite  different  from  those  of  the 
Asiatic  or  African.  It  has  also  been  recognized  that  the 
present  position  of  the  Church  in  Europe  and  America  is 
the  result  of  the  development,  sometimes  slow  and  often 
very  uneven,  of  the  characteristics  of  the  different  coun- 
tries. From  this  the  argument  has  been  easy  that  if  the 
churches  in  China,  Japan,  Korea,  India,  Turkey,  Africa, 
Micronesia,  etc.,  are  to  become  able  to  do  for  them- 
selves and  their  surrounding  communities  what  these 
churches  have  done  and  are  doing,  they  must  develop  in 
much  the  same  way.  It  is  to  be  confessed  that  this  idea 
has  not  always  been  followed  out  with  equal  clearness 
and  consistency.  There  have  been  not  a  few  cases  in 
which  American  or  English  or  German  forms  of  church 
government  and  statements  of  doctrinal  belief  have  been 
superimposed  upon  the  native  churches,  in  rather  arbi- 
trary fashion.  Yet  that  has  not  been  the  rule,  and  it  is 
doubtful  whether  even  in  those  cases  there  was  a  clear 
perception  as  to  what  was  being  done.  It  is  probably 
fair  to  say  that  Protestant  missionaries  of  every  board  and 
from  every  land  have  held  to  the  principle  that  the  or- 
ganization of  the  native  church  should  to  a  very  great 
degree,  if  not  entirely,  be  the  natural  outgrowth  of  the 
peculiar  needs  and  represent  the  capabilities  of  the  native 
communities.  Even  in  the  case  of  those  churches  which 
emphasize  most  strongly  the  principle  of  organic  unity, 
and  claim  that  the  Church  is  one,  and  that  the  various 
branches  are  integral  parts  of  that  one,  there  has  been  a 
large  liberty  exercised  in  the  conduct  of  the  branches. 


The  Native  Church  18 1 

The  principle  of  individual  development  dominates  even 
that  of  the  organic  unity  of  the  Church,  and  there  is  no 
better  recognized  truth  on  the  mission  field  than  that  of 
the  diversity  of  gifts. 

<  Local  Conditions. — The  special  needs  to  be  con- 
sidered in  determining  the  specific  character  of  the  native 
church  have  always  been  found  in  the  peculiar  position 
and  composition  of  the  church.  They  vary  somewhat  in 
different  lands,  yet  in  general  have  much  the  same  char- 
acteristics. The  native  church  has  been  and,  to  a  con- 
siderable degree,  is  still  located  in  the  midst  of  a  com- 
munity overwhelmingly  opposed  to  it  and  determined  on 
its  overthrow.  Reference  has  been  made  to  three  classes 
of  people  in  mission  fields  :  those  easily  attracted  to 
Christianity ;  those  bitterly  opposed  to  it,  and  those — the 
great  majority — indifferent,  yet  easily  excited  to  hostility 
when  they  see  their  cherished  customs  endangered. 
Early  persecution  has  been  chiefly  due  to  the  family  or 
those  of  the  second  class.  As,  however,  the  number  of 
Christians  has  become  larger  and  seemed  likely  to  prove 
a  serious  disturbing  element,  the  indifferentism  of  the 
great  mass  has  not  infrequently  become  active  opposition. 
To  meet  this,  hold  its  own,  and  more  than  that,  mani- 
fest its  ability  to  gain  ground  by  disarming  opposition 
and  attracting  to  itself,  has  been  the  task  of  the  new 
church,  rendered  more  difficult  by  the  fact  that  its  mem- 
bership has  always  been,  with  rare  exceptions,  composed 
to  a  considerable  extent  of  the  more  ignorant.  It  is  as 
true  now  as  nineteen  centuries  ago  that  "  not  many  wise 
men  "  are  called.  It  is  still  to  the  poor  that  the  gospel  is 
principally  preached.  It  is  not  therefore  to  be  inferred 
that  the  churches  are  weak.  They  are  not,  and  they 
have  not  been  at  any  period  of  their  history.     They  ar^ 


i82  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

strong,  but  are  better  skilled  in  the  use  of  the  sling  than 
the  sword.  If  they  are  to  use  swords,  they  must  make 
their  own  and  use  them  in  their  own  way. 

Organization. — It  has  been  recognized  thus  on  every 
hand  that  there  was  need  of  the  most  effective  organiza- 
tion possible,  one  which  should  bring  into  use  and  the 
best  possible  use,  every  available  element  of  strength,  and 
at  the  same  time  be  simple  and  not  beyond  the  ability  of 
the  average  members.  In  many  cases  there  has  been  at 
first  really  no  organization  at  all.  The  few  believers  in  a 
city,  town,  or  village  have  been  gathered  together  by  the 
missionary,  either  resident  or  on  a  visit,  and  formed  into 
a  sort  of  class.  Their  membership  has  not  been  enrolled 
in  any  church  records  as  they  have  sat  down  to  the 
Lord's  table,  nor  has  it  been  entered  on  the  lists  of  some 
home  church  to  emphasize  the  great  brotherhood  of  be- 
lievers. As  the  number  has  enlarged  a  regular  organiza- 
tion has  been  formed.  Usually  this  has  been  in  some  city, 
and  the  little  groups  of  Christians  in  the  region  around 
have  been  enrolled  with  it.  In  this  there  has  been  a 
great  variety  of  practice.  Some  missions  have  followed 
the  custom  of  organizing  a  church  only  as  there  was  some 
one,  missionary  or  native,  to  act  as  pastor,  or  at  least  be 
a  regular  preacher.  Here  again  the  various  ecclesiastical 
habits  of  missionaries  have  guided  their  action  in  a  ma- 
jority of  cases,  each  following  the  methods  with  which 
he  was  most  familiar,  at  least  in  the  beginning.  Later 
on  there  has  been  more  of  a  disposition  to  follow  out  the 
lines  that  seem  best  adapted  to  the  circumstances. 

The  result  is  that  all  the  different  forms  of  church 
organization  and  government  of  the  home  churches  have 
appeared  on  the  mission  field.  The  Episcopalian  mis- 
sions have  bishops  and  a  full  list  of  clergy  ;  the  Method- 


The  Native  Church  183 

ists  have  conferences,  and  the  Presbyterians  presbyteries 
and  synods.  These  have  generally  been  held  as  an 
organic  part  of  the  Church  with  which  the  missionaries 
themselves  were  connected.  The  Congregational  socie- 
ties, including  the  Baptist,  emphasizing  as  their  denomi- 
nations do  the  independence  of  the  local  church,  have 
established  no  organic  connection  with  the  home 
churches.  It  must  not,-  however,  be  inferred  that  in 
the  case  of  the  others  there  has  been  any  effort  to  exercise 
minute  control.  The  peculiar  circumstances  have  been 
invariably  recognized  and  large  liberty  assured.  Bishop 
Crowther  on  the  Niger  was  independent  in  his  diocese 
to  a  degree  that  could  not  be  affirmed  of  the  Bishop 
of  London  in  his,  and  it  is  seldom  that  a  General  Con- 
ference or  General  Assembly  has  undertaken  to  override 
the  mature  decision  of  a  native  conference  or  presbytery. 
It  would  not  by  any  means  be  always  easy  for  a  strict 
denominationalist  at  hoQie  to  recognize  his  own  church 
on  the  mission  fields.  Congregational  unions  come  very 
near  being  presbyteries  and  presbyteries  conferences,  while 
occasionally  there  is  to  be  found  a  presby-gational- 
methodism  that  absolutely  defies  tabulation.  A  certain 
mission  once  called  together  the  native  preachers  and 
■lay  representatives  of  the  churches  and  asked  them  to 
state  frankly  what  form  of  organization  they  thought 
would  be  best  adapted  to  their  needs.  The  result  was 
a  curious  mixture  of  systems,  which,  nevertheless,  has 
worked  well. 

The  fact,  however,  of  the  existence  side  by  side  of  so 
many  different  forms  has  occasioned  not  a  little  con- 
fusion and  some  friction,  and  the  result  has  been  an 
increasing  tendency  towards  uniting  in  one  body  those 
whose  general   forms  of  organization   are  the  same  or 


184  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

similar.  Thus  the  native  churches  connected  with  the 
Presbyterian  and  Reformed  missions  in  Japan  united  in 
the  "  United  Church  of  Christ  in  Japan,"  and  similar 
combinations  have  been  made  in  India  and  China. 
There  is  now  a  Methodist  Church,  of  Japan,  and  other 
similar  unions  are  under  consideration. 

Missionary  and  Native  Church. — In  all  these 
movements,  the  personal  relations  of  the  missionary  to 
the  native  churches  have  been  most  intimate,  and  as  is 
natural  have  varied  greatly,  both  in  different  countries 
and  at  different  stages  of  the  work  in  the  same  field.  In 
the  earlier  stages  he  has  been  almost  invariably  practi- 
cally an  autocrat.  As  the  church  has  grown  he  has 
held  the  office  of  pastor,  associate,  adviser,  and  in  some 
cases  has  dropped  out  of  any  official  relation  to  the 
church  at  all,  being  little  more  than  a  resident  counsellor, 
whose  advice  may  or  may  not  be  sought,  and  if  sought 
may  or  may  not  be  followed,  at  least  in  matters  purely 
ecclesiastical.  In  the  management  of  temporal  matters 
involving  the  use  of  funds  the  general,  if  not  universal, 
practice  is  that  the  missionaries  should  have  a  controlling 
voice  or  at  least  a  veto  power,  in  the  appropriation  of 
funds  coming  from  foreign  lands.  With  the  exception 
of  the  difficulties  arising  from  this  question,  the  relation 
between  the  missionaries  and  the  native  churches  has 
been  and  is  most  cordial.  The  missions  have  retained 
their  own  organization  for  the  management  of  their 
distinctive  work,  but  individuals  have  usually  been 
officially  connected  with  the  native  ecclesiastical  bodies, 
and  their  position  in  these  has  been  not  only  useful,  but 
pleasant. 

Native  Leaders. — Accordingly  as  the  work  has  de- 
veloped,   the    missionajj   has    found    that    many  of  the 


The  Native  Church  185 

duties  that  formerly  pressed  heavy  upon  him  can  be 
performed,  not  merely  as  well,  but  better,  by  those 
whom  he  has  helped  to  train  as  leaders  of  the  native 
church,  and  not  the  leaders  alone,  but  the  workers,  the 
teachers,  colporteurs,  Bible  women,  helpers, — a  good 
and  most  appropriate  term — of  every  kind.  They  have 
included  many  men  of  high  ability  and  international 
reputation,  as  Bishop  Crowther  of  Africa,  W.  T.  Sat- 
thianadhan  and  Narayan  Sheshadri  of  India,  Pastor 
Hsi  of  China,  Joseph  Neesima  of  Japan,  and  many  others. 
They  have  ranked  among  the  most  effective  orators  of 
the  church,  while  their  service  as  scholars  has  been  of 
the  highest.  The  great  versions  of  the  Bible  owe  much 
not  only  to  their  knowledge  of  their  own  languages 
and  the  manners  and  customs  of  oriental  peoples,  but  to 
their  thorough  comprehension  of  the  general  principles  of 
philology  and  their  ability  to  adapt  to  the  needs  of  their 
people  ideas  foreign  to  their  history.  So,  too,  their 
service  in  creating  a_permanent  and  suitable  vernacular 
literature  has  been  great,  and  their  _lvymns_rank  with 
those  of  any  portion  of  the  Christian  church.  Not  less 
important,  however,  than  the  work  of  these  leaders  has 
been  that  of  the  more  humble  labourers  ;  the  teachers  in 
the  village  schools ;  the  colporteurs,  often  the  bravest 
and  the  most  skilful  of  pioneers  ;  the  Bible  women  who 
have  found  the  way  to  open  the  most  closely  barred 
doors.  There  have  been,  too,  not  a  few  who  in  the 
spirit  of  the  apostolic  age  have  carried  the  gospel  with 
them  in  their  journeys,  preached  it  to  the  customers  in 
their  shops,  won  the  praise  of  even  enemies  by  their 
sincere  Christian  life. 

The  selection  of  these  helpers  from  the  list  of  those 
who  are  gathered  into  the  Christian  communities  is  one 


i86  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

of  the  most  perplexing  duties  of  the  missionary.  On  the 
one  hand,  there  is  tlie  feeUng  that  the  great  and  con- 
stantly increasing  need  of  the  field,  the  ever  new  oppor- 
tunities, call  for  as  many  labourers  as  possible.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  is  the  fact  that  often  to  push  forward 
into  responsible  positions  those  who  are  still  immature  in 
character  is  to  incur  the  risk  of  great  harm  to  them  and 
to  the  best  interests  of  the  work.  That  the  record  of 
those  selected  is  so  clear,  and  that  they  have  done  so 
much,  is  proof  of  the  thoroughness  of  the  work  done  in 
them  by  the  Spirit  and  for  them  through  the  missionaries. 
That  they  should  at  times  develop  characteristics  not 
exactly  in  accordance  with  what  could  be  wished  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at.  No  one  who  has  read  the  history  of 
the  development  of  the  ministry  in  Christian  lands  should 
be  surprised  if  the  corresponding  history  in  mission  lands 
shows  some  failings. 

Two  facts  have  conspired  to  make  the  situation  of  the 
native  leader  one  of  difficulty.  The  first  is  the  great  de- 
mand in  most  mission  lands  for  educated  men  in  busi- 
ness and  in  government  employ.  Most  of  the  graduates 
of  mission  schools  in  India,  China,  Egypt,  South  Africa 
rank  high,  and  could  easily  secure  government  or 
business  positions  that  would  pay  much  higher  salaries 
than  they  could  possibly  hope  for  in  the  service  of  the 
churches.  Under  such  circumstances  not  a  few  have 
entered  the  mission  schools  for  the  sake  of  securing  such 
employment,  and  they  are  the  ones  who  have  given  oc- 
casion for  much  of  the  talk  about  **  rice  Christians."  It 
is  no  slight  strain  on  a  preacher  in  a  land  where  wealth 
counts  for  far  more  even  than  here,  to  be  pitted  against 
schoolmates  who  greatly  outrank  him  in  salary  and  social 
position. 


The  Native  Church  187 

Self- Support. — Perhaps  the  most  serious  difficulty, 
after  all,  has  been  connected  with  the  most  perplexing 
problem  of  church  development,  that  of  self-support.  A 
prime  essential  to  healthy  development  is  responsibility. 
Responsibility  involves  independence,  and  there  can  be 
no  genuine  independence  without  self-support.  Any  or- 
ganization, secular  or  religious,  that  depends  upon  some- 
body else  to  pay  the  bills  for  its  ordinary  expenses  is  not 
only  under  bonds  to  do  as  that  same  body  wishes,  but 
loses  one  of  the  chief  incentives  to  aggressive  and  yet  pru- 
dent action.  This  general  principle  is  nowhere  more 
forcibly  illustrated  than  in  the  history  of  missions.  The 
apostles  had  no  funds  on  which  to  draw  to  build  chapels 
and  pay  evangelists,  pastors,  and  teachers.  The  result 
was  that  each  community  looked  after  itself.  What  it 
could  afford  it  had  ;  what  it  could  not  afford  it  did  with- 
out. So  also  with  the  missionaries.  Paul's  position  was 
made  very  clear ;  he  would  be  chargeable  to  no  man,  and 
worked  for  his  own  living.  As  churches  grew  up  the 
pastors  grew  up  with  them  sharing  their  life,  living  on 
their  plane,  leaders  by  virtue  of  their  innate  power  of 
leadership.  The  mediaeval  monks  introduced  a  new  sys- 
tem. Receiving  their  own  support  from  the  monasteries 
and  churches  that  sent  them  out,  they  appealed  to  them 
to  do  for  the  converts  what  they  could  not  do  for  them- 
selves. Thus  arose  the  buildings  that  have  marked  the 
progress  of  Roman  Catholic  missions  in  various  lands. 
As  has  already  been  said,  wherever  native  clergy  were 
appointed  they  were  trained  chiefly  in  Europe,  or,  if  not 
there,  in  these  establishments,  and  drew  their  support 
from  the  general  fund.  At  the  same  time  they  took  good 
care  to  train  their  church-members  in  giving  to  the  full 
extent  of  their  ability. 


l88  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Protestant  missions  have  in  most  cases  commenced 
with  few  converts  and  under  circumstances  of  extreme 
poverty,  even  distress.  An  excommunicated  Armenian, 
an  outcast  Brahman  cut  off  from  his  ordinary  means  of 
liveHiiood,  came  perilously  near  starving.  Some  means 
of  subsistence  had  to  be  provided ;  some  employment 
found  for  them.  To  ask  such  to  support  their  own  in- 
stitutions was  a  mockery.  At  the  same  time  the  mis- 
sionaries recognized  very  clearly  the  necessity,  as  well  as 
advantage,  of  the  concomitants  of  church  work  with 
which  they  were  familiar :  preaching  places,  school- 
houses,  and  especially  a  regular  native  agency,  including 
preachers,  teachers,  colporteurs,  and  helpers  of  various 
kinds. 

Support  of  Native  Helpers. — So  far  as  these  agen- 
cies were  concerned  it  was  natural  that  they  should  be 
employed  by  the  missions.  Indeed  there  was  no  other 
way ;  it  was  that  or  nothing.  The  missionary  thus 
came  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  sort  of  provider,  who  could  if 
he  would  supply  any  imperative  needs.  The  effect  on 
the  native  helper  was  bad  in  two  ways ;  he  came  to 
be  too  often  a  mere  dependent,  with  comparatively  little 
individual  force ;  fearful  of  taking  any  position  or  ad- 
vancing an  idea  which  might  prejudice  the  missionary 
against  him.  On  the  other  hand  he  was  unwilling  to  be 
a  tax  upon  the  people ;  and  in  not  a  few  cases  proved 
himself  the  most  serious  bar  to  the  full  self-support  of  the 
church.  The  situation  was  rendered  worse  by  the  fact 
that  in  a  number  of  cases,  bright  young  men  anxious  for 
better  education  came  to  America,  and  then  returned  to 
their  own  land  with  habits  and  ideas  very  different  from 
those  of  their  own  people.  They  were  unwilling  to  drop 
back  into  their  previous   life,  and  they  were  equally  un- 


The  Native  Church  189 

willing  to  ask  their  people  to  support  them  in  the  style 
that  had  become  a  necessity  to  them.  They  also  laid 
claim  to  appointment  as  missionaries  with  all  that  the 
regular  missionary  enjoyed.  The  arguments  put  forth 
were  very  plausible,  and  not  a  few  in  the  home  lands 
could  not  see  that  to  do  this,  as  most  missions  were  con- 
stituted, would  react  in  a  most  serious  way  against  the 
best  development  of  the  church. 

Building  Expenditure. — In  much  the  same  way  arose 
the  practical  difficulty  connected  with  the  supplying  of 
buildings.  The  missionaries  entering  a  new  country 
made  their  headquarters  in  the  cities,  from  necessity  in 
such  countries  as  China,  from  choice  in  Turkey.  They 
desired  to  gather  audiences,  and  opened  preaching  serv- 
ices, at  first  usually  in  their  own  dwellings.  As  the 
number  of  attendants  increased,  a  larger  place  became 
necessary,  but  the  believers  were  neither  numerous  nor 
strong  enough  to  meet  the  expense.  In  a  village  they 
might,  and  often  did,  erect  one  by  contributing  labour. 
In  the  city  this  was  impossible.  With  the  wealthy  con- 
stituency at  home  perfectly  able  to  give,  it  seemed  al- 
most wrong  not  to  furnish  the  chapel,  the  school,  the 
church.     It  was  done. 

There  grew  up  thus  a  custom,  which  in  many  cases  be- 
came almost  law,  that  until  the  native  church  became 
large  and  strong  its  expenses  for  buildings,  preachers, 
teachers,  etc.,  should  be  provided,  at  least  in  good  part, 
by  the  missions.  The  danger  was  realized,  and  earnest 
efforts  were  made  to  meet  it.  Rules  were  laid  down 
that  no  church  should  be  organized  except  as  the  mem- 
bers pledged  a  certain  part  of  the  pastor's  salary ;  that 
only  a  certain  proportion  of  the  cost  of  a  chapel,  school- 
house,  etc.,   should  be  provided  ;  but  these  were  by  no 


IQO  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

means  always  effective,  and  it  was  impossible  to  avoid 
numerous  exceptions.  The  difficulty  was  enhanced  by 
the  knowledge  acquired  by  the  people  of  the  wealth  of 
the  churches  in  the  West.  They  themselves  were  poor; 
why  should  they  pinch  themselves  when  the  people  who 
sent  the  missionaries  were  so  rich  ?  When  urged  to  in- 
dependence, they  cared  little  for  that.  They  never  had 
been  independent,  had  really  a  very  faint  conception  of 
what  independence  was  or  why  it  was  of  any  special 
value  to  them.  It  was  hard,  too,  for  the  missionaries  to 
press  the  matter.  It  seemed  cruel  to  urge  upon  these 
people  in  their  poverty  such  sacrifices  as  they  must  make 
in  order  to  carry  on  their  work.  Often  when  a  good 
start  had  been  made,  famine,  persecution,  or  some 
general  disaster  came  in  to  undo  what  had  been  done. 

Results. — It  has  been  natural  that  under  such  condi- 
tions there  should  grow  up  in  the  native  communities  the 
idea  that  the  missionaries  could  control  unlimited  funds, 
and  this  idea  was  encouraged  by  the  reports  of  those 
natives  who  had  visited  America,  been  feted  and  flattered, 
and  imbued  with  the  idea  that  as  the  money  given  for 
missions  was  for  their  advantage,  it  really  belonged  to 
them,  and  they,  not  the  missionaries,  should  have  charge 
of  the  disbursement. 

The  situation  was  not  equally  bad  in  all  fields.  Among 
the  Karens  in  Burma  there  was  comparatively  little  dif- 
ficulty in  this  respect.  The  number  of  converts,  the  sim- 
ple manner  of  life,  the  general  character  of  the  people, 
made  the  solution  of  the  problem  easier.  In  Japan  the 
self-assertion  of  the  Japanese  has  been  an  important  ele- 
ment in  developing  independence  of  mission  funds. 

In  the  newer  fields,  too,  the  missionaries  have  had  the 
experiences  of  those  in  other  lands  to  help  them,  and  the 


The  Native  Church  191 

missions  in  Central  Africa,  Korea  and  Laos  have  been 
able  to  avoid  some  at  least  of  the  difficulties  in  this  line. 
Gradually  also  in  the  older  fields,  as  the  communities  have 
grown  stronger  and  there  has  come  to  be  a  higher  general 
tone  of  life,  the  situation  has  greatly  improved.  It  has 
also  become  more  and  more  the  custom  to  rely  upon  the 
judgment  of  the  native  churches  and  leaders,  and  as  the 
responsibility  has  been  thrown  upon  them  they  have 
measured  up  to  its  demands  in  most  noble  style. 

With  this  general  improvement,  there  has  also  been 
manifest  a  change  in  the  status  of  the  native  leaders. 
While  there  has  been  manifest  no  disposition  to  make 
them  official  members  of  the  missions,  it  is  becoming 
recognized  that  their  own  standing  in  their  churches  is  not 
in  any  degree  lowered  thereby,  and  that  they  are  not  in 
any  sense  subject  to  the  control  of  the  mission.  Especially 
has  this  been  emphasized,  where,  as  in  Japan,  India  and 
China,  the  organization  of  the  native  churches  has  com- 
menced to  assume  a  somewhat  national  character. 

Status  of  Mission. — The  native  church  has  begun 
to  realize  that  the  mission,  as  a  distinct  force,  must  be,  to 
a  greater  or  less  degree,  an  exotic,  an  institution  foreign 
to  the  best  development  of  the  people,  a  means  to  an  end 
which,  as  soon  as  the  end  shall  have  been  reached,  must 
give  place  to  its  successor,  and  that  that  successor  must 
be  the  fully  organized,  completely  equipped  native 
church.  As  both  missionaries  and  native  leaders  have 
come  to  recognize  this  truth,  the  relations  between  both 
have  become  more  cordial.  The  missionary,  less  of  a 
superintendent,  becomes  a  counsellor,  when  the  church 
is  strong,  and  is  free  to  press  the  original  lines  of  his 
work  in  the  sections  yet  unreached.  It  will  be  long 
years  yet  before  the  need  of  missionary  evangelists  has 


192  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

passed  away,  before  the  native  churches  at  their  best  will 
be  able  to  lay  on  their  own  shoulders  the  work  of  evan- 
gelizing their  own  peoples.  Till  then  the  mission,  alter- 
ing its  form  perhaps  and  its  scope,  yet  preserving  its 
essential  features,  will  remain. 

Doctrinal  Development. — In  the  development  of 
the  native  church,  there  has  been  of  late  years  no  question 
which  has  aroused  more  interest  in  America  than  the  doc- 
trinal position  taken  by  it.  In  the  earlier  years  of  its 
hfe  its  doctrinal  basis  has  corresponded,  very  natur- 
ally, to  the  belief  of  the  missionaries  connected  with  its 
organization.  As  in  regard  to  the  ecclesiastical  form, 
there  has  been  little  effort  to  force  Western  forms  of  creed 
upon  the  new  converts.  The  great  truths  of  sin,  salva- 
tion, the  divinity  of  Christ,  have  been  wrought  into  the 
life  of  the  Church  and  embodied  in  statements  more  or 
less  detailed,  according  to  the  ability  of  the  uneducated 
to  understand  them.  In  the  preparation  of  the  native 
ministry  there  has  been  more  care  to  be  complete,  and 
yet,  even  there,  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the  mission,  it  has 
seldom  been  thought  best  to  insist  upon  acceptance  of  the 
minutice  of  the  systems  of  theological  thought  prevalent 
in  churches  of  many  centuries  of  growth. 

With  fuller  knowledge  of  the  Oriental  type  of  thought, 
especially  religious  thought,  it  has  been  recognized  that 
each  church  must  do  for  itself  what  the  Western  Church 
did  :  work  out  its  own  statement.  The  result  has  been 
various  creeds,  some  of  which  have  aroused  no  little  ap- 
prehension in  the  home  churches,  because  of  their  failure 
to  insist  upon  certain  dogmas  familiar  to  them.  This 
has  been  especially  true  of  Japan,  but  it  has  also  been 
felt  in  regard  to  China  and  Korea.  Those,  however, 
who  have  kept  most  closely  in  touch  with  the  situation  in 


The  Native  Church  193 

those  churches  have  been  constant  in  the  assertion  of 
their  firm  adherence  to  the  fundamentals  of  Christian 
truth,  perhaps  not  phrased  in  the  same  way,  yet  pro- 
ducing the  same  Christian  life.  An  examination  of  the 
history  of  missions  will  reveal  just  as  clear  a  guidance  in 
the  councils  of  the  native  preachers  and  teachers  as  was 
ever  manifest  in  the  convocations  or  synods  with  which 
European  and  American  Christians  are  familiar.  Human 
nature  being  the  same  in  Asia  as  in  America,  it  is  scarcely 
surprising  that  acute  minds  in  the  Orient  question  for 
themselves  the  statements  received  from  the  Occident, 
and  the  Holy  Spirit,  not  being  confined  by  degrees  of 
latitude  and  longitude,  may  be  expected  to  exercise  as 
potent  an  influence  in  Tokio,  Shanghai,  or  Madras,  as  in 
Westminster,  Canterbury  or  Boston. 

Endued  with  Power. — The.guage  of  the  quality  of 
a  Christian  church  is  its  power  in  the  community,  pri- 
marily spiritual,  but  also  social  and  national.  Church- 
members,  as  has  been  said  already,  have  social  and  civil 
duties  to  perform.  They  must  perform  them  in  a  Chris- 
tian way,  not  merely  in  response  to  their  own  sense  of 
duty,  but  in  order  to  indicate  to  others  what  Christianity 
demands  in  such  matters.  Here  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant and  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  most  difficult 
functions  of  the  church.  It  cannot  be  neglected,  yet  if 
not  performed  rightly  it  occasions  great  injury  to  the 
church  itself,  and  furniihes  a  stumbling-block  to  the 
world.  When  met  wisely  its  influence  is  most  marked. 
An  illustration  is  found  in  the  history  of  the  Evangelical 
Armenian  Church.  Its  members  were  looked  upon  by 
the  Gregorian  Church  as  recreant  not  only  to  their  Church 
but  their  nation.  Through  these  years  of  trial  they  have 
shown  their  honour  for  their  nation  as  well  as  for  their 


194  '^he  Missionary  Enterprise 

faith,  and  that  fact  has  had  much  to  do  with  breaking 
down  the  hostiHty  felt  towards  them.  In  Japan  the  noble 
service  of  Christian  Japanese,  in  the  government  and  in 
the  army,  has  done  much  to  disarm  opposition.  In  China 
it  has  been  the  character  of  the  native  Christian  Church 
that  has  won  from  the  government  the  marvellous  change 
in  its  attitude.  In  India,  it  is  to  the  Christian  Church 
that  far-seeing  statesmen  look  to  meet  the  tide  of  unrea- 
soning and  turbulent  nationalism.  At  no  time  in  the 
history  of  the  world  has  there  been  a  greater  opportunity 
than  now,  in  the  lands  of  the  East,  faces  these  native 
churches.  Upon  them,  rather  than  upon  the  missions, 
rests  the  burden,  and  the  clearer  the  recognition  of  this 
by  the  churches  at  home,  the  greater  probability  will 
there  be  of  their  rising  to  the  opportunity.  If  to  send 
out  missionaries  in  numbers  is  to  stifle  the  activities  or 
weaken  the  sense  of  responsibility  of  the  native  church, 
it  will  do  the  cause  irreparable  harm.  The  whole  history 
of  missions,  in  whatever  land,  in  whatever  age,  has  shown, 
let  me  repeat,  that  the  motive  power  for  the  firm  establish- 
ment, and  substantial  extension  of  Christian  faith  must 
be  in  an  indigenous  Church,  developing  its  own  form  of 
worship,  its  own  ecclesiastical  organization,  its  own  state- 
ment of  belief.  The  whole  object  and  purpose  of  a  science 
of  missions  must  be  the  establishment  of  such  a  Church. 
Every  form  of  missionary  activity  must  be  guaged  by  its 
relation  to  that  great  end.  It  was  the  one  aim  of  Paul 
and  the  leaders  of  the  early  Church.  It  lay  at  the  basis 
of  the  schools  of  Columba  and  Boniface.  It  was  ex- 
pressed over  and  over  again  by  the  pioneers  of  modern 
missions.  Wherever  it  has  been  adhered  to,  there  the 
triumph  of  the  gospel  has  been  permanent  and  continu- 
ous.    Whenever  it  has  been  forgotten  in  the  feverish  de- 


The  Native  Church 


195 


sire  for  extension,  there  has  come  either  crystallization, 
or  disintegration.  The  native  church,  equipped  for  its 
work,  recognizing  no  master  but  Christ,  answerable  to  no 
other  ecclesiasticism,  guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  is  the 
immediate  end  in  view  of  the  missionary  and  the  mission, 
the  missionary  society,  the  church  at  home,  so  far  as  the 
foreign  field  is  concerned  ;  the  immediate  end,  in  order 
to  the  ultimate  end,  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  To  aid  in  its  equipment,  to  counsel  with  it  in  its 
perplexities,  to  succour  it  in  its  weakness,  to  rejoice  with 
it  in  its  successes,  is  a  privilege  than  which  none  is  or  can 
be  greater. 


PART  II 
Extension 


XIII 

AFRICA 

FROM  the  time  of  the  maritime  discoveries  of 
the  fifteenth  century  until  comparatively  a  few 
years  ago,  there  was  a  peculiar  charm  for  the 
Christian  Church  about  Africa,  illustrated  by  the  very 
term  that  was  universally  applied  to  it  in  connection  with 
missionary  enterprise.  The  Dark  Continent.  The  very 
vagueness  of  knowledge  as  to  its  geography  and  its  races 
stimulated  curiosity,  while  the  terrible  sufferings  of  its 
innocent  victims  of  a  slavery  unsurpassed  in  horror  even 
by  the  ravages  of  cannibals  in  the  South  Seas  or  in  its 
own  impenetrable  forests  aroused  the  intense  sympathy 
of  Christian  people  and  inspired  them  to  marvellous  de- 
votion and  sacrifice.  In  no  mission  land  of  the  world 
has  life  been  poured  out  so  freely,  and  the  early  annals 
of  many  mission  enterprises  have  been  simply  records  of 
martyrdom,  not  so  much  by  violence  as  by  disease,  un- 
der the  fatal  influence  of  climate  and  unaccustomed  con- 
ditions of  life.  Still  the  supply  of  workers  has  never 
failed.  As  one  and  another  have  fallen,  others  have 
come  to  fill  their  places.  Better  knowledge  both  of  the 
country,  or  countries,  and  the  peoples,  together  with  ex- 
perience, have  brought  wiser  action,  and  at  last  much  of 
the  danger  has  been  overcome,  and,  after  years  chiefly  of 
experiments,  at  times  almost  fruitless,  the  work  is  advanc- 
ing rapidly. 

199 


200  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Geographical  Discovery. — More  than  anywhere 
else,  except  in  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  has  mission 
work  been  most  closely  allied  with,  and  dependent  upon 
geographical  discovery.  Africa  is  in  no  sense  a  mission 
field  with  general  characteristics  which  even  under  differ- 
ing circumstances  give  some  unity  to  the  work.  It  is 
rather  a  collection  of  fields,  each  totally  different  from 
every  other  in  physical,  racial,  social,  and  linguistic 
character.  It  is  also  distinctively  a  modern  field,  geo- 
graphical discovery  having  had  a  more  direct  relation  to 
its  occupation  than  in  any  other  case.  From  the  time 
of  the  Phenicians  to  the  Middle  Ages  practically  nothing 
was  known  of  the  continent  except  along  the  Mediterra- 
nean. When  the  Portuguese  commenced  their  voyages 
in  the  fifteenth  century  they  followed  the  west  coast, 
reaching  Cape  Verde  in  1446,  Sierra  Leone  in  1463,  the 
Congo  in  1484,  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  in  i486, 
while  a  few  years  later  Vasco  da  Gama  sailed  along  the 
east  coast  as  far  as  Cape  Guardafui.  As  a  result  trading- 
posts  were  established  in  many  places,  but  there  seems  to 
have  been  little  or  no  colonizing  until  the  seventeenth 
century,  when  the  Dutch  established  themselves  near  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  A  century  later  exploration  com- 
menced in  earnest.  Bruce  on  the  Blue  Nile,  Mungo 
Park  and  Landers  on  the  Niger,  and  Tuckey  on  the 
Congo,  gave  a  faint  idea  of  these  great  rivers,  but  it  was 
little  more  than  an  idea.  In  1844  Krapf  and  Rebmann, 
by  their  discovery  of  Mount  Kilimanjaro,  led  the  way  for 
Livingstone,  Blaikie,  Burton,  and  Speke,  and  opened  up 
the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Nile  (1862).  About  the  same 
time  Barth  explored  the  central  Sudan  and  Lake  Tchad. 
Then  came  Stanley's  journeys  (1871-77),  and  Schwein- 
furth  and   Nachtigal  (1869-74)  brought  the  Sudan  races 


Africa  20l 

to  the  knowledge  of  the  world.  Since  then  journeys 
have  been  repeated,  until  now  there  is  practically  no  un- 
known territory.  Not  merely  the  head  waters  of  the 
great  rivers  but  the  deserts  as  well  as  oases  have  given  up 
their  secrets,  and  the  foreigner  is  no  more  an  unknown 
figure  than  in  many  parts  of  Asia.  Africa  is  thus,  in  a 
special  sense,  modern  mission  ground,  only  a  very  small 
portion  of  it  being  known  at  all  to  the  Christian  Church 
at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  Partition  of  Africa. — Scarcely  less  important 
than  geographical  discovery  as  a  factor  in  missions  has 
been  the  occupation  of  the  continent  by  the  European 
nations.  As  noted  above,  it  was  not  until  the  seven- 
teenth century  that  anything  more  was  done  by  Euro- 
peans than  to  establish  trading-posts  with  a  certain 
amount  of  suzerainty  over  the  immediately  adjoining 
country.  This  was  mostly  done  by  the  Portuguese. 
Then  came  the  Dutch,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the  last 
century  the  English  drove  the  Boers  back  from  the  coast, 
and  commenced  in  Cape  Colony  the  African  develop- 
ment of  the  present  century.  Until  the  discoveries  of 
Livingstone  and  Stanley  there  was  little  done  except  to 
hold  ground  already  gained  ;  but  then  there  was  a  rush, 
England,  Germany  and  France  vying  with  one  another 
in  extension  of  influence,  while  Portugal  hurriedly  drew 
her  boundaries,  and  th^  Dutch  Boers  became  anxious  for 
their  independence.  In  1885  the  celebrated  Berlin 
Conference  established  the  Congo  Free  State,  and  the 
general  lines  of  influence  of  the  three  powers  most  in- 
terested were  drawn,  though  so  as  to  occasion  much 
strife.  To-day  barely  one-fifth  of  the  area  remains  to  the 
native  rulers,  and  that  one-fifth  is  so  dominated  by  the 
four-fifths  as  scarcely  to  be  called  independent. 


202  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

This  has  on  the  whole  been  advantageous  to  mission 
work.  English  rule  as  everywhere  has  been  favourable, 
despite  some  actions  which  have  seemed  the  reverse  ; 
France  has  been  as  unfriendly  as  she  well  could  be, 
especially  in  Madagascar,  and  preserve  any  semblance  of 
enlightened  government ;  Germany  has  been  not  so  much 
unfavourable  as  suspicious ;  Portugal  and  Spain  have 
been  hostile;  the  Congo  Free  State,  avowedly  friendly, 
though  under  the  despotism  of  King  Leopold  this  has 
evidently  been  but  a  sop  to  the  Cerberus  of  enlightened 
public  opinion  which  even  he  dared  not  entirely  disre- 
gard. Still  when  all  has  been  said  in  this  line,  there  re- 
mains the  tremendous  power  of  a  civilized  government, 
subduing  the  brutality  of  the  wars  and  the  infamy  of  the 
slave  trade  and  making  it  possible  for  missionaries  to  go 
almost  anywhere  with  reasonable  assurance  of  personal 
safety,  and  what  is  of  really  more  importance  securing, 
for  the  most  part,  to  the  infant  native  church,  protection 
till  it  can  hold  its  own. 

Not  less  important  than  this  political  assistance  has 
been  the  introduction  of  new  ideas  as  to  manner  of  life, 
the  object  lessons  of  railways,  bridges,  houses,  clothes, 
and  the  dignity  of  labour.  The  Cape-to-Cairo  Railway, 
along  the  very  line  of  the  Apostelstrasse  projected  by  the 
St.  Chrischona  Pilgrim  Mission  as  early  as  1861,  and  its 
southern  extension  through  the  land  where  Robert 
Moffat  journeyed  ;  the  Uganda  railway,  making  the  long 
wearisome  journeys  of  Hannington  and  Mackay  a 
pleasure  trip  ;  the  steamers  on  Livingstone's  Congo  ;  all 
these  and  many  other  like  things,  are  teaching  the  Afri- 
can that  the  house  is  better  than  the  kraal,  clothing  is 
better  than  nakedness,  peace  than  war,  knowledge  than 
ignorance,  and  thus  preparing  them  for  a  quicker,  and  in 


Africa  203 

some  respects,  more  substantial  acceptance  of  Christian 
truth. 

The  Missionary  Problem. — This  has  been  a  con- 
stantly shifting  one,  varying  as  new  countries  were 
opened  up  or  new  political  influences  assisted  or  hindered 
the  work.  It  is  possible,  however,  by  taking  the  different 
sections  in  order,  to  gain  something  of  an  idea  of  what 
difficulties  have  been  presented  by  the  different  races 
and  the  physical  characteristics  of  the  continent.  The 
ordinary  division  into  North,  South,  East,  West,  and 
Central  is  necessarily  somewhat  vague,  but  is  perhaps  the 
most  available. 

North  Africa,  including  the  Mediterranean  states  from 
Egypt  to  Morocco,  is  distinctly  Mohammedan.  The 
dominant  native  element  is  the  Arab,  but  the  Berbers, 
of  Aryan  origin,  descendants  probably  of  the  incursions 
from  the  North,  are  Moslem  chiefly  in  form.  Some  of 
them  are  rough  and  fierce ;  others,  especially  the  Kabyles 
of  Algeria,  are  of  finer  grade. 

West  Africa,  embracing  the  coast  states  from  the  ' 
Senegal  River  to  the  southern  boundary  of  Angola, 
nearly  on  a  line  with  the  Zambesi  River,  is  in  some  re- 
spects the  most  difficult  part  of  the  continent.  Here  are 
Dahomey,  Coomassie,  the  fierce  tribes  east  of  Liberia 
and  Sierra  Leone,  and  of  the  Niger  valley.  It  was  the 
region  of  the  most  revolting  forms  of  the  slave-trade,  and 
the  residence  of  the  fiercest  and  most  brutal  tribes.  It 
is,  too,  the  most  unhealthful  section,  the  equatorial  cli- 
mate and  low,  swampy  lands  making  it  almost  impossible 
for  Europeans  to  live.  The  southern  part,  spoken  of  at 
times  as  West  Central  Africa,  is  somewhat  diff"erent. 
Back  from  the  coast  rise  high  table-lands,  whose  races  are 
more  amenable  to  Christian  influences. 


204  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

South  Africa,  the  entire  region  south  of  the  Zambesi 
River,  is  in  many  respects  ahiiost  an  ideal  missionary 
field.  The  climate  is  healthful,  and  the  dominant  race, 
the  Bantu,  including  the  Zulus,  Basutos,  Bechuanas, 
Matabeles,  and  others,  are  of  a  very  different  type  from 
the  negroes  of  the  Congo,  although  black  and  often 
called  by  that  name.  More  refined  in  nature,  of  a 
higher  grade  of  ability  and  character,  they  offer  a  most 
attractive  field  for  missionary  effort.  Less  interesting, 
yet  still  very  approachable,  are  the  Hottentots  and  Bush- 
men, having  perhaps  the  lowest  grade  of  intellect  in  the 
land.  South  Africa  being  almost  entirely  under  British, 
German,  or  Dutch  rule,  is  fully  open  to  mission  work. 

East  Africa,  from  the  Zambesi  to  Cape  Guardafui,  cor- 
responds somewhat  to  the  lower  part  of  West  Africa. 
Along  the  coast  unhealthful,  but  on  the  high  table-lands 
east  of  the  Great  Lakes  the  very  reverse,  occupied  for 
the  most  part  by  Bantu  races  and  chiefly  under  German 
or  English  protection,  it  presents  only  such  difficulties  as 
are  involved  in  difficulty  of  access,  paganism  still  un- 
adulterated by  civilization,  sometimes  hardened  by  Mo- 
hammedanism and  the  continuance  of  slavery,  less 
brutal  in  some  respects  than  that  of  the  west  coast,  but 
still  a  powerful  hindrance  to  evangelical  influences. 

Central  Africa,  including  the  Congo  Free  State  with 
the  sections  immediately  north  and  south,  presents  great 
obstacles.  The  climate  in  the  main  unhealthful,  the 
races  embruted  to  the  last  degree  by  the  slave-trade,  and 
the  scarcely  less  oppressive  rubber-trade  combine  to 
make  it  a  most  difficult  field. 

The  Sudan  is  only  just  opening  to  missionary  effort. 
As  British  rule  and  influence  have  extended  up  the  Nile, 
missions  have   followed,    and   established  schools    and 


Africa  205 

churches  far  beyond  what  seemed  the  limit  of  advance. 
On  the  west,  as  the  great  Hausa  tribes  are  coming  to  be 
known  more  perfectly  and  the  remnants  of  a  mighty 
kingdom  are  being  discovered,  it  has  been  easy  to  under- 
stand the  rush  of  the  Moslem,  and  there  has  arisen  an 
earnest  plea  to  Christian  nations  to  check  the  tide  of 
Islam.  Abyssinia  remains  where  she  was  when  in  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  Peter  Heiling  sought 
to  preach  a  purer  gospel.  And  yet  Abyssinia  is  not  the 
same,  for  she  has  resisted  the  encroachments  of  Italy 
only  to  learn  the  secret  of  her  foes  and  open  her  doors  a 
little  to  Western  influence.  There  remains  the  great  Sa- 
hara, coming  more  and  more  under  foreign  sway,  until 
its  great  oases  and  fabled  cities  are  familiar  names  to  the 
telegraph  operator,  and  the  Dark  Continent  is  no  longer 
dark  because  its  doors  are  closed,  for  they  are  wide  open, 
but  because  even  as  yet  missions  have  barely  touched  the 
outskirts  of  its  vast  domain. 

Islam. — The  great  problem  of  African  missions,  is — 
not  the  ignorance  of  its  peoples,  nor  their  fetich  wor- 
ship, not  even  the  influence  of  un-Christian-Christian 
nations.  All  these  are  yielding  more  and  more  to  the 
gospel.  It  is  Islam.  The  Arab  slave-dealer  has,  as  a 
class,  disappeared.  Not  that  no  slaves  are  bought,  but 
the  traffic  is  no  longer  open.  His  place  has  been  taken 
by  the  sheikh  or  dervish.  Not  even  in  Persia  is  the 
rule  of  this  class  so  mighty  as  in  Africa,  from  the  Red 
Sea  to  the  Niger,  from  Morocco  to  Wadai.  The  central 
thought  of  Islam  to-day  is  the  coming  of  the  Mahdi, 
the  prophet,  who  is  to  complete  the  victory  of  Moham- 
med. Arabia  looks  for  him,  though  the  cultured  Mos- 
lem of  North  India  seems  careless  and  the  Afghan 
troubles  himself  little  about  him.     In  North  Africa  he  is 


2o6  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

supreme.  One  who  led  the  figlit  against  the  English, 
died  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Khalifa,  to  be  in  turn 
overcome  by  British  troops.  In  place  of  these  is  already 
arising  another,  El-Senoussi,  of  whom  so  little  definite 
knowledge  has  been  gained  that  some  have  scarcely  be- 
lieved in  his  existence,  but  who  still  is  causing  consider- 
able anxiety  to  British  on  the  east  and  French  on  the 
west  and  north.  The  students  of  El  Azhar,  the  great 
\  Moslem  University  of  Cairo,  are  said  to  have  caught  the 
infection,  while  the  persistent  report  of  the  raising  of  the 
green  flag  of  the  Prophet,  in  proclamation  of  the  Jehad, 
or  Holy  War,  in  Morocco,  are  indications  of  the  wide  ex- 
tent of  the  idea.  The  battle  royal  with  Islam  will  be 
either  in  Western  Asia  or  North  Africa,  probably  the 
former,  but  it  will  take  more  than  the  present  skirmish 
line  to  conquer  the  strongholds  of  the  Sudan. 

Methods. — So  multiform  a  problem,  it  is  evident, 
could  not  be  solved  by  any  general  plan  or  uniform 
method.  Hence  mission  work  in  Africa  has  followed 
more  the  methods  of  early  Christian  work.  It  has  been 
individual  rather  than  general,  personal  rather  than  na- 
tional. The  simplest  of  gospel  preaching  has  taken  pre- 
cedence, followed  and  that  not  very  closely  by  educa-- 
tion,  although  in  some  places  and  among  some  tribes,  as 
the  Wa  ganda  of  the  Great  Lakes,  it  has  held. a  foremost 
place,  and  Lovedale  Institute  in  South  Africa  is  a  leader 
in  missionary  industrial  education.  Medical  missions 
have  from  the  beginning  been  most  useful  and  of  later 
years  one  of  the  most  prominent  factors,  although  hos- 
pital and  dispensary  work  has  not  been  carried  on  to  the 
same  degree  as  in  China.  Industrial  missions  have  been 
developed  most  effectively.  The  low  plane  of  living, 
made   the  most  ordinary  comforts  and  even  necessities  of 


Africa  207 

life  very  rare,  and  not  even  among  the  South  Sea  Islanders 
was  ''the  gospel  of  a  clean  shirt  "  more  needed.  With 
most,  the  very  conception  of  orderly,  and  what  to  Amer- 
icans seems  decent,  living  had  almost  to  be  created  by 
special  instruction.  Homes  and  clothing,  as  well  as 
churches  and  books,  had  to  be  taught  by  object-lessons, 
and  the  missionary  was  forced  to  be  carpenter,  agricul- 
turist, brick-maker,  etc.,  not  merely  for  himself,  but  for 
his  converts.  Thus  instruction  in  the  trades  has  assumed 
a  very  prominent  place.  Even  the  furnishing  of  the 
Bible,  and  instruction  in  religious  thought,  marked  in 
many  cases  a  comparatively  late  stage  of  the  work.  For 
all  except  the  Arab-speaking  peoples  the  language  had 
first  to  be  reduced  to  writing.  Then  terms  had  to  be 
found  to  express  many  of  the  simplest  ideas  of  Christian 
truth,  and  when,  as  often  was  the  case,  they  could  not  be 
found,  they  had  to  be  manufactured.  All  this  was  made 
more  difficult  by  the  almost  innumerable  number  of  lan- 
guages and  dialects.  Dr.  Cust  gives  the  number  of  lan- 
guages as  438,  with  153  dialects;  and  in  the  Bantu 
family  alone  there  are  168  languages  and  55  dialects. 
One  missionary.  Dr.  Laws,  reports  the  translation  of  por- 
tions of  the  Bible  into  seven  languages  or  dialects  in  his 
own  field.  So  systematically  has  this  work  been  done 
by  selection  of  those  languages  most  widely  known  or 
most  easily  understood,  that  it  is  claimed  that  there  is 
not  even  a  tribe  to  whom  the  Bible  is  an  absolutely  sealed 
book. 

Early  Missions. — The  first  missions  to  Africa  in 
modern  times  were  those  of  the  Roman  Catholics  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  following  the  Portuguese  discoveries. 
They  have  already  been  referred  to  (see  **  Roman 
Catholic  Missions  "),  and  need  no  further  notice  here. 


2o8  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

When  the  Protestants  took  up  the  enterprise  they  had 
already  ahnost  faded  out  of  sight.  The  first  Protestant 
work  was  by  tlie  Moravians,  and  was  the  result  of  the 
interest  in  the  Cape  Colony  tribes  aroused  by  the  reports 
of  Ziegenbalg,  who  saw  them  on  his  way  to  his  mission 
in  Tranquebar.  George  Schmidt,  who  had  proved  his  de- 
votion by  six  years'  imprisonment  in  Bohemia  "  for  the 
gospel,"  was  selected  by  the  Brethren  at  Herrnhut,  and 
he  arrived  at  Cape  Town  in  July,  1737.  At  that  time 
the  Dutch  were  in  full  control,  and  Dutch  and  a  few 
French  Huguenot  colonists  had  spread  over  the  country. 
They  looked  upon  the  natives  as  little  if  any  better 
than  animals  and,  so  far  as  they  had  souls,  doomed 
like  the  Canaanites  of  old.  The  idea  of  Christianizing 
them  was  regarded  as  not  merely  absurd  but  almost 
wicked ;  and  the  simple-hearted,  somewhat  uneducated 
Moravian,  backed  by  no  government,  and  with  no  means 
of  support  but  his  own  labour,  was  derided  almost  as 
much  as  the  Hottentot.  He  persisted  however,  won 
the  confidence  of  the  Hottentots,  who  could  hardly  un- 
derstand a  white  man  who  did  not  rob  and  maltreat 
them,  and  through  an  interpreter  and  by  means  of  his 
neat  hut  and  garden,  taught  them  first  at  one  village, 
and  when  driven  from  there  by  jealous  farmers,  at  an- 
other, until  a  little  company  of  Christian  natives  was 
gathered.  When  this  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
Cape  Town  authorities,  they  made  their  protest  and  se- 
cured an  order  from  the  governor  forbidding  him  to  bap- 
tize. Schmidt  then  returned  to  Europe,  and  sought  to 
gain  from  the  government  of  Holland  an  order  permitting 
him  to  go  on  with  his  work.  He  was  unsuccessful,  and 
was  compelled  to  return  to  his  home.  His  little  com- 
pany waited  for  him  for  a  long  time,  but  gradually  dis- 


Africa  209 

persed  or  died,  and  for  more  than  half  a  century,  with 
the  exception  of  an  undeveloped  plan  by  Dr.  Coke,  the 
Wesleyan,  no  effort  even  was  made  to  reach  the  peoples 
of  Africa.  With  the  rise  of  missionary  interest  at  the 
close  of  the  century  attention  was  turned  again  to  these 
peoples  of  the  South. 

The  leader  in  the  new  movement  was  again  a  Hol- 
lander, but  sent  out  by  the  London  Missionary  Society 
— John  T.  Vanderkemp,  who  founded  the  mission  among 
the  Kafirs  of  South  Africa  in  1798.  About  the  same 
time  the  Baptists  and  the  Scotch  and  Edinburgh  societies 
had  attempted  the  west  coast,  but  failed,  and  it  was  not 
until  1804  that  a  permanent  footing  was  secured  by  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  in  Sierra  Leone.  The  way 
thus  opened,  others  followed  rapidly,  and  as  fast  as  cir- 
cumstances and  knowledge  of  the  country  permitted, 
missionaries  pressed  into  every  section.  In  view  of  the 
differences  in  the  fields  noted  above,  a  clearer  conception 
of  the  development  of  the  work  will  be  gained  if  we  fol- 
low the  geographical  order,  taking  the  different  sections 
as  they  were  occupied. 

South  Africa. — Vanderkemp's  work  was  first  among 
the  Kafirs  east  of  Cape  Town,  and  then  among  the  Bush- 
men, but  with  the  coming  of  Robert  Moffat  (1818)  atten- 
tion was  directed  to  the  Bechuanas.  Orange  River  was 
crossed  and  the  door  opened  into  Central  Africa,  after- 
wards entered  by  Livingstone,  the  immediate  occasion 
being  a  determined  attack  on  the  tribes  by  the  Dutch 
Boers,  evidently  with  the  purpose  of  preventing  further 
development.  Livingstone's  own  property  was  destroyed ; 
he  was  brought  up  for  trial  and  banished  from  the  coun- 
try. Saying,  "  The  Boers  resolved  to  shut  up  the  inte- 
rior, and  I  determined  to  open  the  country ;  we  shall  see 


210  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

who  has  succeeded — they  or  I,"  he  pushed  north,  dis- 
covered Lake  Ngami,  and  did  for  Africa  what  no  other 
man  has  done.  The  next  society  to  enter  was  the 
Wesleyan  (1814),  and  the  chosen  field  was  to  the  west, 
Namaqualand  and  the  Hottentots,  subsequently  ex- 
tended eastward  to  Kafirland,  Bechuanaland,  and  Natal. 
In  1821  the  Glasgow  Missionary  Society  started  the  work 
which  afterwards,  under  the  care  of  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland,  became  so  well  known  ;  and  the  Paris  Evangel- 
ical Society  also  selected  this  as  their  first  enterprise 
(1829),  drawn  perhaps  by  the  presence  of  a  Huguenot 
element.  They  too  as  the  others,  met  with  opposition 
from  the  Dutch,  and  settled  in  Basutoland.  In  1828  the 
Moravians  resumed  their  work,  and  were  followed  by  the 
Rhenish  and  Berlin  Societies,  while  the  American  Board 
commenced  its  work  in  Natal  in  1834.  A  new  and 
strong  reinforcement  came  then  in  the  taking  up  of  the 
Glasgow  Society's  work  by  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland, 
and  in  the  development  of  the  Lovedale  Institute,  as  well 
as  of  the  churches.  A  number  of  other  societies  have 
also  entered  the  field  chiefly  from  Europe,  so  that  that 
region  has  been  claimed  as  peculiarly  the  field  of  the 
German  and  Scandinavian  churches. 

All  have  had  much  the  same  experience,  measurably 
favourable  and  encouraging  when  the  political  ambitions 
of  governments  have  not  aroused  the  bitter  hostility  of 
the  races,  and  when  even  worse  obstacles  have  not  ap- 
peared in  the  form  of  European  vices. 

The  terrible  South  African  wars  have  at  times  almost 
destroyed  the  work,  but  the  result  has  been  to  open  up 
new  fields,  and  greater  opportunities.  With  the  final 
victory  of  English  rule,  and  under  the  influence  of  Rev. 
Andrew  Murray,  the  Dutch  who  formerly  were  so  hostile 


Africa  2 1 1 

to  missions,  have  now  their  own  society,  conducting  work 
farther  north.  The  opening  up  of  the  diamond  mines 
brought  large  numbers  of  negro  labourers  to  Johannes- 
burg, Kimberley  and  similar  places,  and  labour  among 
them  found  its  fruit  in  remoter  sections  when  these  re- 
turned to  their  homes.  The  development  of  the  native 
churches  has  brought  about  a  situation  at  once  hopeful 
and  discouraging.  The  evident  character  and  ability  of 
the  leaders  and  the  membership  augurs  well  for  the 
future,  but  this  very  fact  has  aroused  political  hostility 
and  race  prejudice.  The  British  Wesleyans  refused  to 
give  to  negro  pastors  the  full  rights  they  claimed,  and  the 
result  was  an  appeal  to  the  coloured  people  of  America, 
a  visit  by  Bishop  Turner  of  the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  a  more  recent  one  by  another  bishop, 
and  the  organization  of  a  large  and  powerful  independent 
Negro  Church.  This  Ethiopianism  as  it  is  known  has 
unfortunately  been  identified  with  the  transference  to 
South  Africa  of  some  of  the  political  churchmanship  of 
America,  and  has  aroused  the  dread  of  the  Colonial 
Governments,  which  have  issued  orders  that  no  negro 
shall  be  in  full  charge  of  a  church.  It  is  hoped  that  the 
severest  features  of  this  situation  will  be  modified.  At 
this  writing  the  whole  situation  is  difficult,  affecting  not 
one  only  but  all  the  missions.  A  redeeming  feature  is 
the  increase  of  desire  for  education,  so  marked  that  the 
colonial  authorities  are  taking  steps  to  improve  the 
primary  schools  as  the  basis  for  those  of  higher  grade. 

West  Africa. — This  has  probably  been  from  the  first 
one  of  the  most  forbidding  fields  of  missionary  effort,  and 
it  has  made  the  heaviest  drafts  on  missionary  resources, 
in  life  even  more  than  in  money.  The  Church  Mission- 
ary Society  led  the  way  (1804)  in  permanent  occupation, 


212  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

and  has  done  a  great  work  as  far  south  as  the  mouth 
of  the  Congo,  having  had  most  efficient  assistance 
from  many  other  societies.  In  1811  came  a  company 
of  Wesleyans,  the  advance-guard  of  the  Missionary 
Society.  These  had  the  advantage  of  the  pohtical 
security  of  the  British  colony  of  Sierra  Leone,  established 
in  1787  as  a  home  for  freed  slaves;  and  to  kindred  sup- 
port along  the  whole  stretch  of  that  coast,  missions  have 
owed  much.  In  1821  the  American  Baptists  entered 
Liberia,  and  from  that  time  the  increase  has  been  great, 
until  there  is  scarcely  a  section  that  is  not  either  occupied 
by  or  within  easy  reach  of  some  missionary  organization. 
The  Basel  Society  established  itself  on  the  Gold  Coast  in 
1827,  and  has  steadily,  but  under  heavy  disadvantages, 
carried  on  its  work.  Americans,  Germans,  French, 
worked  hand  in  hand  with  English  and  Scotch,  and 
though  results  have  not  been  as  notable  as  in  some  other 
fields,  they  have  given  the  earnest  of  future  success. 
The  very  difficulties  have  stimulated  methods,  which 
when  successful  have  been  pushed,  and  when  failing  of 
their  purpose  have  been  modified  or  dropped.  This  is 
the  field  of  Bishop  Taylor's  greatest  effort  at  self-support- 
ing missions,  based  on  the  colonial  conception  that  the 
Germans  had  developed  in  so  many  places.  It  proved  a 
failure  and  practically  has  left  no  trace.  The  American 
Lutherans  taking  up  the  same  idea  but  in  a  different 
way,  are  meeting  the  test  better. 

Here  too  is  the  field  where  the  Church  Missionary 
Society,  with  wise  foresight,  pressed  to  the  front  of  its 
work  a  negro  Bishop,  Samuel  Crowther,  and  others  like 
him  in  the  Niger  Mission,  which  now  stands  face  to 
face  with  the  new  openings  to  the  great  Hausa  tribes  of 
the  Western  Sudan.     Islam  has  so  far  failed  to  reach  the 


Africa  2 1 3 

west  coast.  As  it  presses  on  it  finds  in  its  path  the 
Christian  churches  built  up  on  the  fever  plains  and  the 
highlands  of  West  Africa.  To  them  may  come  the  honour 
of  repelling  its  advance. 

Somewhat  farther  south  are  the  highlands  of  Angola, 
attractive  by  their  healthfulness  but  under  the  heel  of 
Portuguese  avarice  and  bigotry.  Here  the  Congrega- 
tionalists  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  are  uniting  in  a 
work  as  primitive  as  that  which  faced  Moffat  in  the  South. 
Taking  advantage  of  the  experience  of  others,  they  are 
already  meeting  with  good  success. 

East  Africa. — In  18 19  the  Church  Missionary  Society 
sent  a  representative  to  Egypt  to  confer  with  the  Coptic 
ecclesiastics,  and  the  result  was  the  Egyptian  mission. 
On  his  return  Mr.  Jowett  found  an  Amharic  manuscript 
Bible  in  the  British  Museum,  and  this  gave  occasion  for 
a  mission  to  Abyssinia  (1830),  closed  by  French  Jesuit 
intrigue  in  1838,  Krapf,  one  of  the  missionaries, 
wandered  south  to  Gallaland,  spending  some  years  in 
Shoa.  Driven  forth  again  by  the  Roman  Catholics,  he 
went  to  Mombasa,  and,  joined  by  Rebmann,  discovered 
Kilimanjaro  (1848),  brought  Uganda  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  world,  gave  the  impulse  to  East  African  discovery, 
and  laid  the  foundation  for  East  African  missions.  About 
the  same  time,  Livingstone  came  from  the  south,  and  the 
Great  Lakes  and  Congo  region  were  opened  up.  The 
pioneers  worked  on  at  Zanzibar  until  1874,  when,  under 
the  influence  of  the  news  of  the  death  of  Livingstone,  the 
two  societies.  Church  Missionary  and  London  Mission- 
ary, responded  to  the  appeal,  and  inaugurated  the 
Uganda  and  Lake  Tanganyika  missions.  They  were 
soon  followed  by  the  Scotch  Church  missions  near  Lake 
Nyassa,    while   two   Swedish   societies   and   the  United 


214  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Methodist  Free  Churches  of  England  have  taken  up, 
though  in  Hmited  degree,  the  work  among  the  Gallas. 
These  in  turn  were  followed  by  the  Universities'  Mission 
at  Mombasa  (1875)  and  a  mission  of  the  American 
Board  on  the  highlands  farther  south  (1883).  All  have 
had  severe  experiences.  Meeting  a  finer  grade  of  people 
in  some  sections,  especially  at  Uganda,  they  have  also 
come  in  sharp  collision  with  Islam  in  its  aggressive  effort 
to  extend  itself  in  Central  Africa.  The  slave-trade,  too, 
has  been  fought,  and  the  best  energies  of  the  Church 
have  been  put  forth  with  enough  of  success  to  give  high 
encouragement.  The  story  of  Uganda  is  too  well  known 
to  need  enlarging  on  it  here.  Mackay,  Hannington, 
Pilkington  are  household  names,  and  the  work  they  did 
will  ever  stand  as  one  of  the  great  achievements  of  mis- 
sions. 

Since  the  entrance  of  Germany  upon  African  colonial 
expansion,  the  German  societies  have  greatly  increased 
their  labours  and  are  now  among  the  foremost  in  the 
portion  between  Uganda  and  the  coast.  German  colonial 
rule  has  not  always  been  most  helpful  and  there  have 
been  many  collisions  with  the  native  tribes,  but  the 
societies  are  pressing  forward  and  report  good  success. 
Two  problems  of  great  difficulty  face  them  :  the  Roman 
Catholic  Missions  and  Islam.  The  conflict  between  the 
Uganda  Mission  and  the  White  Fathers  of  Cardinal 
Lavigerie,  was  one  of  the  most  bitter  experiences  of  that 
work,  for  it  compelled  the  mission  to  identify  itself  in 
what  was  at  bottom  a  political  contest  for  supremacy  be- 
tween France  and  England.  Fortunately,  at  least  in  ap- 
pearance, it  is  the  policy  of  Rome  not  to  antagonize  Ger- 
many, while  it  cares  little  for  placating  England.  Perhaps 
this  made  it  possible  for  the  Benedictines  and  the  Berlin 


Africa  2 1 5 

.Society  to  come  to  an  agreement  not  to  trench  on  each 
other's  territory,  but  the  agreement  may  also  be  inter- 
preted as  indicating  confidence  in  the  genuine  value  of 
the  work  of  the  Catholic  priests.  The  other  problem  is 
the  same  that  meets  the  Church  Missionary  Society  in 
Nigeria  and  Uganda,  the  Moslem  propaganda,  coming 
down  from  Morocco  on  the  west  and  Egypt  and  Arabia 
on  the  east.  Whether  Indian  Islam  is  sharing  in  it  is 
not  fully  evident,  though  Indian  Moslems  have  presented 
a  formal  petition  to  the  British  Government  not  to  use  re- 
pressive measures  where  their  faith  is  strong. 

Central  Africa. — Practically  this  term  means  the 
Congo  region  opened  up  by  Livingstone  and  Stanley, 
though  the  distinction  between  it  and  East  and  West 
Africa  is  not  easily  made.  In  1878  the  Livingstone  In- 
land Mission  was  founded  by  the  East  London  Institute, 
and  later  passed  over  to  the  American  Baptist  Mission- 
ary Union,  while  under  the  name  of  the  Regions  Beyond 
Missionary  Union,  the  founders  went  on  to  the  remoter 
sections.  This  region  has  been  a  special  favourite  with 
what  are  known  as  ''  faith  "  societies,  as  the  Plymouth 
Brethren,  Christian  and  Missionary  Alliance  and  others, 
though  one  board  of  a  very  different  type,  the  Southern 
Presbyterian,  has  done  notable  work.  The  blight  of  the 
tyranny  of  King  Leopold  has  been  upon  the  whole  land, 
though  there  seems  a  certainty  that  the  situation  will 
soon  be  improved.  Of  great  success  there  is  little  record 
here,  as  in  other  sections  where  seed  sowing  has  been 
long  and  arduous. 

To  the  south  however  the  work  of  the  Paris  Society, 
under  Francois  Coillard,  along  the  Zambesi,  has  been 
more  successful,  while  Moravians,  Germans,  and  the 
Scotch  societies  have  laid  firm  foundations.     This  whole 


2i6  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

section,  as  it  is  opened  up,  gives  great  promise.  As  yet, 
however,  it  is  still  for  the  greater  part  in  the  primary 
stages.  To  the  north  again.  Central  and  East  Africa 
meet  North  African  Missions,  coming  up  the  Nile,  past 
Khartum,  and  Fashoda,  and  it  will  not  be  long  before  the 
line  is  complete,  while  Abyssinia,  and  the  Gallas  on  the 
east,  remain  for  future  triumphs  of  missions,  when  the 
seeds  sown  at  intervals  by  many  workers  shall  bear  fruit. 

North  Africa. — Aside  from  Egypt,  which  is  closely 
identified  with  Turkey,  and  is  spoken  of  in  the  next 
chapter,  there  has  been  very  little  done  for  the  section 
where  in  the  early  Christian  centuries  there  was  so  strong 
a  Christian  Church.  Nowhere  has  the  victory  of  Islam 
been  so  complete,  nowhere  is  present  day  work  more 
difficult.  A  single  missionary  society,  the  North  Africa 
Mission,  has  borne  the  brunt  of  the  labour,  and  with 
physicians  and  nurses  penetrated  into  many  cities.  It 
has  been  compelled  however  to  work  under  cover,  and 
in  the  later  political  developments  has  suffered  much. 
France  in  Algiers  and  Italy  in  Tunis,  have  shown  what 
European  Governments  can  do  to  hamper  Christian 
work,  although  recently  the  French  governor  has  assured 
Bishop  Hartzell  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of 
acceptance  of  a  missionary  of  that  society. 

It  is  the  misfortune  of  Africa  that  as  yet,  there  has 
been  no  concerted  and  cooperative  action  of  the  mis- 
sions. There  has  been  less  perhaps  of  friction  than  in 
some  other  fields,  but  the  widely  separated  countries,  the 
very  diverse  races  and  languages,  the  peculiarly  intricate 
political  arrangements ;  all  have  united  to  prevent  the 
mingling  of  those  engaged  in  the  same  work,  which  has 
been  possible  even  in  India.  Each  mission  has  worked 
at  its  own  problems  alone.     With  the  increase  of  facilities 


Africa  217 

for  travel  this  condition  will  doubtless  be  obviated,  and 
the  "team  work  "  which  is  assuming  such  prominence  in 
other  lands,  will  be  manifest  in  Africa.  An  indication  of 
this  is  manifest  in  a  recent  conference  at  Johannesburg, 
attended  by  representative  members  of  the  Presbyterian, 
Wesleyan,  Congregational  and  Baptist  churches.  After 
full  discussion,  it  was  unanimously  agreed  that  there 
were  no  obstacles  to  a  union  of  these  bodies  which  ought 
not  to  be  overcome,  and  that  the  supreme  authority  in 
each  church  should  be  invited  to  appoint  eight  delegates 
to  unite  with  a  corresponding  number  from  the  other 
churches  to  act  as  a  joint  committee  to  prepare  a  basis 
of  union. 

Madagascar,  brought  to  notice  as  a  heathen  island 
by  her  terrible  traffic  in  slaves,  later  became  equally 
known  by  the  heroic  faith  of  her  Christian  martyrs. 
From  the  time  of  the  first  discovery  of  the  island  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  through  the  repeated  attempts  at 
coJonization  by  the  Portuguese  (i 506-1615)  the  English 
and  Dutch  (i 595-1 640)  and  since  1842  by  the  French, 
not  only  did  the  native  tribes  deal  in  slaves,  but  these 
settlers  dealt  in  slavery  and  Christianity  in  about  equal 
proportions.  The  result  was  repeated  tribal  wars,  and 
disastrous  uprisings  against  the  foreigners  often  resulted 
in  massacres.  During  these  years  the  Malagasy  were  di- 
vided in  six  tribes,  of  which  the  Sakalava  was  the  largest 
and  most  powerful  during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries,  numbering  probably  a  million  and  a  half,  liv- 
ing on  the  west  coast.  The  Betsimisaraka  in  the  east, 
Sihanaka  and  Tankarana  in  the  northeast,  and  the  Bet- 
sileos  and  Hovas  in  the  central  provinces,  were  lesser  in 
number  and  of  minor  importance,  but  in  1785  a  chief  of 
the  latter  tribe  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  ascendancy 


2i8  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

over  his  own  and  several  smaller  tribes,  and  on  his  dealh 
(iSoS-io)  Ills  son  succeeded  him  as  Radama  I,  King  of 
the  Hovas. 

This  far-sighted  monarch  determined  to  become  king 
of  Madagascar,  and  to  this  end  negotiated  a  treaty  (1818) 
with  the  English  governor  of  Mauritius,  whereby  England 
was  to  establish  schools,  aid  in  civilizing  the  l\Ialagasy, 
and  pay  to  Radama  an  annual  grant,  while  he  promised 
the  abolition  of  slavery  and  protection  to  foreigners.  As 
soon  as  this  treaty  became  known  in  England,  the  London 
Missionary  Society  sent  two  missionaries  to  open  a  sta- 
tion. They  were  welcomed  by  Radama  and  began  work 
under  his  protection.  The  language  of  the  Hovas  was 
reduced  to  writing,  a  printing-press  established  and  vari- 
ous industries  taught  the  Malagasy  who  proved  eager  to 
learn.  By  1828  over  one  hundred  schools  had  been 
established  and  over  5,000  people  had  received  an  ele- 
mentary education.  This  year  Radama  died,  and  his 
successor,  while  for  a  time  not  actively  hostile,  showed 
small  favour  to  the  missionaries  and  the  little  band  of 
native  Christians.  Their  number  increased,  however, 
and  in  1831  the  first  church  in  Madagascar  was  formed, 
with  twenty-eight  members.  By  1833  probably  30,000 
Malagasy  could  read. 

The  storm  burst  in  1835  and  continued  with  short 
respites  till  1861.  During  this  period  these  Malagasy 
Christians  were  tortured  ;  they  had  trials  of  mockings  and 
scourgings,  of  bonds  and  imprisonment — they  were 
stoned,  sawn  asunder,  they  wandered  about  in  dens  and 
caves  of  the  earth,  they  were  destitute,  afflicted,  ill- 
treated, — but  they  fought  a  good  fight  and  kept  the  faith. 
On  the  death  of  the  queen  her  son  at  once  proclaimed 
religious  freedom  and  protection  for  all  Christians,  which 


Africa  2 1 9 

was  continued  under  the  reign  of  succeeding  sovereigns, 
and  in  1869  the  idols  were  publicly  destroyed,  and 
Madagascar  was  declared  a  Christian  island.  The  So- 
ciety for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  (1864)  and  the 
Friends*  Foreign  Missionary  Association  (1867)  went  to  the 
assistance  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  and  the 
work  was  prospering  when  France  first  established  a  pro- 
tectorate in  1885,  and  formally  annexed  the  island  in 
1896.  From  the  first  the  French  authorities  were  hostile 
to  the  English  missionaries,  and  to  relieve  the  situation 
in  1896  the  Paris  Evangelical  Society  took  over  much 
of  their  work.  The  Norwegian  Missionary  Society  has 
had  a  small  work  since  1866,  with  which  France  has  in- 
terfered but  little.  The  relief  experienced  by  the  coming 
of  the  Paris  Society  proved  but  temporary.  Laws  were 
enacted  first  against  private  schools,  then  elementary 
schools,  and  finally,  in  1906-7,  measures  were  taken 
which  practically  closed  all  mission  schools,  and  most  of 
the  churches  were  boarded  up.  Christians  were  forbid- 
den to  have  family  prayers  if  any  outside  the  immediate 
family  were  present.  It  yet  remains  to  be  seen  if  the 
martyr  spirit  of  their  ancestors  is  in  the  present  Malagasy, 
and  they  will  remain  as  faithful  under  the  persecution  of 
a  Christian  nation  as  did  their  forefathers  under  that  of 
a  heathen  queen. 


XIV 

WESTERN  ASIA 

AT  the  opening  of  the  era  of  modern  missions, 
the  Moslem  countries  of  Western  Asia,  while 
they  had  lost  some  of  their  prestige,  were  still 
very  powerful.  The  Sultan  still  ruled  from  the  Danube 
to  the  Persian  Gulf,  from  the  Caucasus  to  Tunis  in  Af- 
rica, while  Algiers  and  Morocco  recognized  him  as 
suzerain.  The  new  Kajar  dynasty  of  Persia  had  brought 
order  out  of  the  chaos  that  followed  the  death  of  the 
famous  Nadir  Shah,  and  was  holding  at  bay  both  Russia 
on  the  north  and  England  on  the  south.  Arabia  had  not 
yet  begun  to  exercise  vigorous  protest  against  the  usurpa- 
tion of  the  Caliphate  by  the  Ottoman  Turk,  and  in  Egypt 
the  Mamelukes  were  repeating  the  story  of  the  Pretorian 
Guards  of  Rome.  The  seeds  of  weakness,  however,  were 
bearing  fruit.  In  1 798  Napoleon  defeated  the  Mamelukes 
at  the  Pyramids  as  his  initial  step  to  Constantinople,  but 
was  in  turn  defeated  by  Nelson  at  Aboukir,  and  both 
Czar  and  Sultan  breathed  more  freely,  and  turned,  the 
former  to  foment,  the  latter  to  suppress,  disturbances  in  the 
Danubian  principalities  and  the  Balkans.  In  Albania  the 
famous  Ali  Pasha  of  Janina  was  practically  independent ; 
in  Egypt,  Mohammed  Ali,  finding  his  Mamelukes  more 
dangerous  than  helpful,  put  them  to  the  sword,  and  started 
north  to  force  special  privileges  from  the  new  Sultan, 
Mahmoud  II  (1808);  in  Arabia  the  Wahabis  were  just 
raising  the  standard  of  revolt  against  the  Ottoman  in 

220 


Western  Asia  221 

favour  of  a  purer  Islam.  Everywhere  to  Western  Chris- 
tianity the  Moslem  frontier  loomed  up  like  a  wall,  im- 
penetrable as  the  mountain  ranges  that  surrounded  its 
territory.  Of  what  was  within  that  wall  few  knew  any- 
thing. The  Eastern  Churches  were  either  an  enigma  or 
a  myth ;  there  were  some  Jews  in  Palestine,  but  beyond 
that  there  seems  to  have  been  but  the  faintest  conception 
of  the  actual  situation. 

Henry  Martyn. — In  1806,  Henry  Martyn  com-  | 
menced  his  work  as  chaplain  at  Dinapur  in  India.  Be- 
coming deeply  interested  in  the  Moslems  he  commenced 
his  translation  of  the  Bible  into  Persian,  and  four  years 
later  went  to  Persia,  thence  to  Turkey,  and  it  was  at 
Tocat  in  the  heart  of  Asia  Minor  that  he  died,  in  1812. 
Through  him  interest  was  aroused  in  the  Armenians  as 
well  as  Moslems,  and  soon  after  attention  was  directed  to 
the  Levant.  An  edition  of  the  ancient  Armenian 
Bible  prepared  under  the  auspices  of  the  Russian  Bible 
Society  in  St.  Petersburg,  was  published  by  the  British 
and  Foreign  Society  in  Calcutta  in  18 14,  and  a  few  years 
.  later  a  Turkish  version,  prepared  150  years  before  by  a 
Pole  educated  as  a  Moslem,  was  put  to  press.  Thus  the 
start  was  made.  In  18 15  representatives  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  and  London  Missionary  Society 
visited  Malta  and  Egypt,  but  did  not  remain ;  still 
Western  Asia  was  scarcely  looked  upon  as  mission 
ground. 

American  Missions. — The  real  beginning  was 
made  when  two  missionaries,  Pliny  Fiske  and  Levi  Par- 
sons, sent  by  the  American  Board  landed  (18 19)  at 
Smyrna  on  their  way  to  Jerusalem.  A  survey  of  the 
situation  resulted  in  the  decision  that  one  should  remain 
in  Smyrna  and  endeavour  to  reach  the  Greeks,  while  the 


222  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

other  should  go  to  Jerusalem.  ^Vith  the  coming  of  as- 
sociates journeys  were  made  up  the  Nile  and  in  Palestine, 
but  the  ill  health  of  one  led  them  for  the  summer  to  the 
slopes  of  Lebanon.  It  soon  became  evident  that  work  in 
Jerusalem  did  not  offer  promise  of  much  success,  and 
Beirut  was  selected  (1824)  as  the  best  location  for  a  mis- 
sion station,  although  the  mission  press,  which  had  al- 
ready been  sent,  was  set  up  at  Malta,  out  of  reach  of  the 
Turkish  government.  Then  followed  renewed  explora- 
tions in  northern  Syria.  Constantinople  and  Athens 
were  visited,  and  in  1830  Eli  Smith  and  H.  G.  O. 
Dwight  commenced  a  long  journey  through  Asiatic  Tur- 
key, the  Caucasus,  and  Persia,  which  opened  up  to  the 
Christian  world  the  condition  of  the  Oriental  Churches 
as  nothing  else  had,  and  brought  them  face  to  face  with 
the  problem  of  missions  in  that  whole  region. 

The  Problem. — This  problem  was  threefold.  First, 
both  in  power  and  numbers  was  Islam.  In  Asia,  with 
the  exception  of  a  small  section,  corresponding  to  the 
ancient  Armenia,  Turks,  Arabs,  Persians,  Kurds,  together 
with  a  variety  of  communities  of  diverse  origin  but  the 
same  faith,  were  not  merely  the  ruling  class  but  the 
overwhelming  majority  of  the  population.  In  the  Euro- 
pean provinces,  there  were  comparatively  few  Turks,  the 
Moslem  element  being  for  the  most  part  of  the  same  race 
as  the  Christians,  and  all  the  more  bitter  against  them 
for  their  refusal  to  apostatize. 

Next  came  Judaism,  represented  by  scattered  colonies 
around  the  shores  of  the  yEgean,  in  Smyrna,  Constanti- 
nople and  Salonica,  very  few  being  in  Palestine.  They 
were  chiefly  of  Spanish  origin,  descendants  of  those  ex- 
pelled from  Spain  in  tlie  fifteenth  century.  The  third 
element  was  the  Oriental  Church,  including  the  Greek, 


Western  Asia  223 

• 

Bulgarian,  Armenian,  Jacobite,  Nestorian,  and  Coptic 
Churches,  while  the  Maronites  of  Syria  and  some  Syrians 
or  Chaldeans,  as  they  were  variously  called,  in  northern 
Syria  and  Mesopotamia,  represented  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  The  general  conditions  presented  by  each  were 
not  dissimilar.  All  were,  with  occasional  individual  ex- 
ceptions, ignorant  and  bigoted.  The  contempt  of  the 
Moslem  for  Jew  and  Christian  was  fully  matched  by  the 
jealousy  and  hatred  of  each  Christian  community  for 
every  other  as  well  as  for  the  followers  of  the  prophet  of 
Arabia. 

Oriental  Churches. — The  researches  by  Messrs. 
Smith  and  Dwight  strengthened  a  conviction  already  felt 
that  the  most  hopeful  field  for  missionary  effort  was  pre- 
sented by  the  Oriental  Churches.  Some  sixty  years  be- 
fore, an  Armenian  priest  had  exposed  some  of  the  most 
glaring  errors  of  his  Church,  and  in  various  places  there 
were  individuals  who  manifested  a  sincere  desire  for  a 
purer  worship  and  truer  Christian  life.  At  first  even  the 
ecclesiastics  seemed  to  welcome  the  assistance  of  the 
missionaries  in  providing  education  and  enlightenment 
for  their  people,  and  especially  for  an  edition  of  their 
Bible.  It  was  also  felt  that  as  Islam  in  a  measure  owed 
its  strength  to  a  devitalized  Christianity,  if  it  could  be 
met  with  a  reformed  native  church  it  might  be  more 
easily  overcome  than  if  foreigners  were  to  undertake  to 
meet  it.  The  Jews  in  their  bigotry  and  bitter  hatred  of 
Christianity  were  apparently  inaccessible.  It  was  there- 
fore practically  if  not  formally  decided  that  while  Jews 
and  Moslems  were  to  be  reached  as  there  was  opportunity, 
the  great  effort  was  to  be  among  the  Christians  who  with 
the  name  had  so  little  of  the  life  of  Christianity.  This 
settled,    there   came  up  the  question  as  to  the  way  in 


224  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

which  this  plan  was  to  be  carried  out.  Here  again  the 
answer  given  was  plain.  These  Churches  were  Christian 
Churches,  weak  and  in  some  respects  corrupt,  yet  Chris- 
tian, not  only  in  name,  but  to  a  considerable  degree  in 
fact.  In  the  remoter  sections  of  the  interior  it  was  hard 
at  times  to  recognize  more  than  the  name.  In  the  cities, 
however,  as  already  stated,  there  were  not  a  few  who 
manifested  by  word  and  life  their  interest  in  evangelical 
faith.  To  reach  these,  increase  their  number  as  much  as 
possible,  and  thus  create  a  pressure  upon  the  ecclesiastics 
for  a  reform,  was  the  work  to  which  the  missionaries  in 
every  section  set  themselves.  There  was  no  thought  of 
establishing  a  separate  or  rival  Church.  The  simple 
purpose  was  to  develop  within  the  old  Churches  an  ele- 
ment which  should  itself  procure  their  reform. 

Occupation  of  the  Field. — By  1831,  twelve  years 
after  the  landing  of  Fiske  and  Parsons,  the  work  was  well 
under  way  and  the  occupation  of  the  field  went  on  rapidly. 
Smyrna,  where  the  mission  press  was  located,  with  its 
mixed  population — Greek,  Armenian,  and  Turkish — 
was  the  chief  station  in  Asia  Minor;  but  the  occupation 
of  Constantinople  (1831)  and  the  rapid  establishment  of 
stations  in  Asia  Minor  made  it  evident  that  the  campaign 
had  commenced  in  earnest.  In  1833  missions  were 
opened  among  the  Nestorians  of  the  Perso-Turkish  bor- 
der, and  a  little  later  among  the  Jacobites  of  Mesopotamia. 
Until  about  1850  the  American  Board  was  alone  in  the 
field,  except  that  Jewish  missions  had  been  established  by 
English  societies  in  some  of  the  cities,  chiefly  Constan- 
tinople, Smyrna  and  Salonica,  their  work  being  practically 
confined  to  education.  About  1849  the  first  missionary 
of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church  (U.  S.  A.)  com- 
menced    a    work    in    Damascus,    which    was  afterwards 


Western  Asia  225 

handed  over  to  the  Irish  Presbyterians,  and  he  (1854) 
joined  some  associates  in  starting  the  United  Presbyterian 
mission  to  the  Copts  in  Egypt.  The  Church  Missionary 
Society  reentered  the  field  in  185 1,  and  by  arrangement 
took  Palestine,  the  American  Board  retaining  Syria ;  the 
latter  was  joined  (1856)  by  the  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Synod  (Covenanter)  which  undertook  work  among  the 
pagan  Nusairiyeh  of  northern  Syria.  Almost  coincident 
with  the  occupation  of  Constantinople  had  been  the 
establishment  of  a  mission  in  Athens,  but  beyond  what 
little  was  done  from  Constantinople,  no  definite  work  was 
undertaken  elsewhere  in  European  Turkey  until  1857, 
when  a  mission  to  the  Bulgarians  was  commenced  by  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  followed  the  next  year  by 
one  under  the  care  of  the  American  Board,  but  south  of 
the  Balkan  range.  By  i860  very  nearly  the  entire  field 
had  been  occupied;  this  year  the  Druse  massacres  in 
Syria  were  followed  by  a  special  interest,  a  large  number 
of  missionary  schools  were  started  by  English  societies, 
and  the  Friends  commenced  work  on  the  Lebanon.  In 
1870,  the  American  Board  work  in  Syria  and  Persia  was 
taken  by  the  Presbyterian  Board.  The  American  Board 
thus  retained  European  Turkey  south  of  the  Balkans, 
and  the  whole  of  Asiatic  Turkey  except  Syria  and  such 
Jewish  work  as  was  carried  on.  In  Persia  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  had  a  mission  among  a  colony  of 
Armenians  near  Is.pahan. 

In  this  rapid  extension  of  the  work  three  different 
forms  of  hostility  were  met :  the  antagonism  of  the  ec- 
clesiastics of  the  Oriental  Churches  ;  the  awakening  sus- 
picion of  Islam,  manifested  in  the  course  taken  by  the 
Moslem  governments ;  the  jealousies,  partly  religious, 
partly   political,    connected    with  the  Eastern  Question. 


226  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

These  frequently  were  so  interrelated  as  to  make  it  im- 
possible to  draw  a  dividing  line  between  them.  In 
general,  however,  they  stand  out  with  sufficient  clear- 
ness. 

Ecclesiastical  Hostility. — That  the  attitude  of  the 
Armenian,  Greek  and  other  ecclesiastics  should  be  hostile 
is  scarcely  surprising.  A  few  indeed,  were  shrewd  and 
far-sighted  enough  to  see  the  advantages  that  might  re- 
sult from  reform  in  the  Church,  and  especially  from 
alliance  with  foreign  influences.  The  great  mass,  how- 
ever, looked  upon  every  attendant  on  Protestant  services 
as  false  not  merely  to  the  Church,  but  to  the  nation,  and 
thus  weakening  the  strength  of  his  own  people  in  their 
constant  fight  against  the  oppression  of  the  Turk.  At 
first  the  attitude  was  one  of  obstruction.  Fair  words 
were  given  and  promises  were  made  to  secure  delay. 
As  it  became  apparent  that  the  number  of  Bible-readers 
and  students  was  steadily  increasing,  the  clergy  took 
alarm,  repressive  measures  were  adopted,  and  at  last 
the  full  force  of  excommunication  was  hurled  at  those 
who  had  anything  to  do  with  the  missionaries.  The 
significance  of  this  is  apparent  as  the  civil  constitution  of 
the  communities  is  understood. 

The  Turkish  conquerors  with  marvellous  shrewdness 
had  adopted  and  adapted  the  Roman  system  of  govern- 
ing those  who  were  not  citizens.  Taking  the  ecclesias- 
tical organization  as  a  basis,  they  made  each  Church  a 
nation,  with  its  hierarchy  as  its  recognized  representatives 
before  the  government.  The  result  was  to  increase  the 
mutual  jealousies,  and  make  the  leaders  the  more  intent 
on  keeping  a  firm  hand  on  all  their  followers.  Any  who 
fell  under  their  displeasure  were  expelled  from  their 
Church,  were  no  longer   members   of  their   nation,  and 


Western  Asia  227 

had  no  civil  status  of  any  kind.  They  could  collect  no 
debts,  could  neither  be  married  nor  buried,  had  no  posi- 
tion before  the  government  of  the  land.  This  fact 
rendered  it  absolutely  necessary  for  the  missionaries  to  in- 
tervene and  secure  some  sort  of  recognition  from  the 
Turkish  government.  As  an  essential  preliminary  under 
the  existing  conditions,  an  evangelical  or  Protestant 
church  was  organized  in  Constantinople  in  1846,  and  the 
next  year,  with  this  as  a  nucleus,  the  Protestant  com- 
munity was  recognized.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  mis- 
sionaries had  met  with  the  greatest  success  among  the 
Armenians,  the  contest  was  chiefly  over  them,  though 
other  communiti-es  suffered  likewise  and  shared  in  the 
benefits  resulting  from  the  new  organization.  Thus  it 
came  about  that  one  prominent  element  in  the  missionary 
plan  was  changed,  not  by  their  wish,  but  by  force  of  the 
opposition  of  the  priesthood.  From  that  time  the 
Protestant  or  evangelical  community,  as  it  was  variously 
called,  became  a  distinct  factor  in  the  empire  in  many 
ways.  It  grew  rapidly  in  power  as  it  covered  increased 
territory.  It  met  with  opposition,  but  it  commanded 
respect  and  increased  in  influence  out  of  all  proportion  to 
its  size. 

The  Moslem  Governments. — The  attitude  of  the 
governments  of  Western  Asia  towards  Christianity  varied 
somewhat  with  the  diFerent  racial  and  political  condi- 
tions. As  stated  above,  the  Sultan  ruled  Turkey  in 
Europe,  Turkey  in  Asia,  Syria  and  Egypt,  and  a  part  of 
Arabia,  the  rest  being  independent.  The  Shah  ruled 
Persia,  while  Russia,  as  mistress  of  the  Caucasus  and 
Moslem  Central  Asia,  and  prospective  heir  to  the  Byzan- 
tine Empire,  was  deeply  interested. 

In   Arabia,  the  situation  was  simple.     Turkish  rule, 


228  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

even  in  Yemen  was  little  more  than  a  fiction.  Elsewhere 
the  various  tribes  were  independent  under  local  rule, 
and  with  the  exception  of  Oman  on  the  Persian  Gulf, 
where  British  influence  is  dominant,  this  local  rule  is 
everywhere  hostile  to  everything  Christian.  In  Egypt, 
I  Moslem  rule  is  very  vague ;  the  British  representative  is 
the  power  although,  especially  in  Upper  Egypt  and  the 
Sudan,  he  is  hampered  by  being  obliged  to  act  largely 
through  local  officials.  In  Persia,  the  Kajar  dynasty, 
Turkish  not  Persian  in  origin,  has  to  keep  the  peace  in 
a  curiously  heterogeneous  Moslem  population.  Turks  in 
the  north,  Persians  in  the  south,  are  Shiahs,  and  therefore 
heretics  ;  with  the  natural  result  that  the  variety  of  sects 
is  confusing.  There  is  no  lack  of  virulence;  hatreds  are 
intense,  but  when  it  comes  to  government,  one  more  sect 
makes  little  difference.  The  distinctive  government 
problem  in  Egypt  and  Persia  is  not  the  most  difficult, 
j  It  is  different  with  Turkey  proper.  There  Islam  forms 
\  a  compact  mass,  homogeneous  notwithstanding  the 
I  numerous  racial  elements.  It  presents  therefore  as  it  al- 
ways has  a  more  perplexing  problem,  one  in  which  the 
foreign  element  is  an  essential  factor.  So  far  as  its  rule 
of  Moslems  is  concerned,  the  Turkish  government  is  a 
strange  combination  of  theocracy,  democracy  and  despot- 
ism. It  has  no  caste,  no  privileged  class,  no  blue  blood  ; 
a  bootblack  might  become  Grand  Vizier,  and  it  would 
create  no  surprise.  The  Sultan  is  supposed  to  be  supreme. 
Practically  he  has  usually  been  under  the  control,  some- 
times of  a  palace  clique,  sometimes  of  a  small  body  of 
Mollahs,  most  of  them  from  Central  Asia,  who  represent 
the  most  rigid  interpretation  of  Islamic  law.  In  its  rela- 
tion to  the  Christian  communities,  the  theocratic  and 
democratic    elements   disappear,   the    despotic    remains, 


Western  Asia  229 

and  under  the  system  noted  above,  the  empire  presents 
the  appearance  of  a  number  of  distinct  and  mutually 
hostile  nations  held  in  subservience  to  a  most  bitter  des- 
potism by  overwhelming  force. 

The  first  introduction  of  evangelical  missions  did  not 
attract  much  attention  from  the  government.  It  was 
merely  another  sect  of  Christians.  What  Httle  comment 
was  made  was  favourable  irather  than  otherwise.  When, 
however,  the  various  ecclesiastics  began  their  extreme 
repressive  measures,  it  became  inevitable  that  the  situa- 
tion should  assume  political  importance,  and  since  then 
the  progress  of  missions  has  been  more  or  less  closely  in- 
volved in  the  various  phases  of  the  Eastern  Question. 

Eastern  Question. — In  1839  Mahmoud  11  died,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  son  Abd-ul-Medjid,  a  well-in- 
tentioned man,  but  weak  and  easily  influenced. 
Russia  seized  the  opportunity  to  press  her  claims  in  the 
hope  of  securing  Constantinople.  The  rest  of  Europe, 
realizing  that  possession  of  the  Bosphorus  and  the  Dar- 
danelles by  Russia  would  make  her  absolute  mistress  of 
the  Eastern  Mediterranean  and  the  coasts  of  Italy,  were 
alarmed.  England  sent  as  Ambassador  to  Constanti- 
nople, Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe,  one  of  the  strongest 
men  in  her  diplomatic  service.  He  acquired  great  in- 
fluence with  the  Sultan  and  proved  a  warm  friend  of 
missions.  In  1843  ^^^°  young  men,  an  Armenian  and  a 
Greek,  who  under  stress  had  professed  Mohammedanism, 
but  afterwards  had  announced  their  Christian  faith,  were 
publicly  executed.  There  was  much  excitement,  and 
Lord  Stratford,  supported  by  the  French  and  German 
ministers,  protested  against  it  as  an  outrage  in  itself  and 
as  a  direct  insult  to  the  Christian  nations.  The  result 
was  the  abolition  of  religious  executions  and  of  the  use 


230  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

of  torture  in  trials.  Some  years  later  (1856)  came  the 
edict  of  religious  toleration.  As  the  persecutions  of  the 
evangelicals  grew  more  severe,  Lord  Stratford  interfered 
in  their  behalf  and  secured  the  decree  for  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Protestant  civil  community,  with  the  same 
rights  and  privileges  that  were  enjoyed  by  the  others. 

From  this  time  on  the  interests  of  missions  were  con- 
stantly in  the  public  eye.  Russia  and  France  under- 
stood belter  than  the  Turks  did  at  first,  that  the  success 
of  the  missionaries  meant  the  weakening  of  those  in- 
fluences with  which  they  were  identified.  Russia's  rule 
of  religious  intolerance  was  extreme.  While  existing 
religions  were  recognized,  no  change  of  religion  was  al- 
lowed, except  to  the  Orthodox  Church,  under  penalty  of 
exile.  Her  rule  was  extending  through  the  Caucasus, 
and  into  Turkey,  and  the  presence  of  an  enlightened 
Protestant  community,  in  these  to  be  acquired  possessions, 
she  knew  would  be  disturbing.  Hence,  in  every  possible 
way,  her  influence  was  thrown  against  the  missionary 
work,  and  she  sought  to  arouse  Turkish  fanaticism 
against  it  by  constant  misrepresentation.  French  influ- 
ence, in  the  main,  was  in  the  same  direction,  due  to  the 
intimate  relations  with  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and 
particularly  the  Jesuits.  The  result  was  that  mission 
questions  were  constantly  coming  before  the  government. 
Permits  for  buildings,  residences,  schools,  churches,  had 
to  be  fought  for.  Laws  of  all  kinds  were  passed,  restrict- 
ive of  the  sale  of  Bibles,  of  travelling,  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  books.  A  censorship  was  established,  some  of 
whose  decisions  were  absurd  in  the  extreme.  Under 
existing  treaty  rights  and  the  constitution  of  the  Protes- 
tant community,  there  was  no  other  course  than  appeal  to 
the   diplomatic   bodies,  and   it  was   inevitable   that  the 


Western  Asia  231 

progress  of  missions  should  follow  the  varying  diplomatic 
fortunes.  When  Russia  or  France  was  in  favour,  mis- 
sions suffered ;  when  England  or  the  United  States  was 
influential — they  were  favoured.  This  identification 
with  political  questions  worked  evil  in  two  ways.  It 
aroused  the  hostility  of  the  Turkish  government,  and  it 
constituted  a  serious  obstacle  to  the  best  development  of 
the  native  church. 

Policy  of  Repression. — During  the  reign  of  Abd-ul- 
Aziz  (1861-1876),  the  general  situation  in  Turkey,  so  far 
as  the  Christians  were  concerned,  was  somewhat  im- 
proved. Foreign  influence  was  supreme  at  Constantino- 
ple ;  the  Sultan  caring  only  for  his  own  pleasures,  would 
do  nothing  to  offend  those  from  whom  he  sought  to  bor- 
row money.  The  result  was  that  many  concessions  were 
secured.  Robert  College  and  the  Syrian  Protestant  Col- 
lege at  Beirut  received  imperial  permits,  the  Bible  House 
at  Constantinople  was  built,  and  schools  were  started  all 
over  the  empire.  With  the  accession  of  Abd-ul-Hamid 
II,  there  came  a  change.  A  policy  of  repression  was 
adopted  in  everything.  First  came  the  Bulgarian  mas- 
sacres resulting  in  the  Russo-Turkish  war  (1877);  then 
things  grew  gradually  worse  until  they  culminated  in  the 
Armenian  massacres  of  1894-5.  The  story  of  those  times 
does  not  belong  here.  A  single  fact  illustrates  the  influ- 
ences at  work. 

During  the  reign  of  terror,  a  Russian  scientist  visited 
Euphrates  College  at  Harput,  and  seemed  much  inter- 
ested in  it.  He  then  called  on  the  Governor  and  told 
him  that  if  that  college  remained,  Islam  would  have  to 
go.  The  next  day  a  mob  was  gathered,  the  college  was 
attacked  and  burned,  and  the  missionaries  barely  escaped 
with  their  lives. 


232  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Under  constant  pressure  from  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment, through  the  efficient  labours  of  such  men  as 
Horace  Maynard,  Gen.  Lew.  Wallace,  Oscar  S.  Straus, 
John  G.  A.  Leishman  and  others,  the  situation  has  be- 
come alleviated.  There  has  at  no  time  been  any  dispo- 
sition to  refuse  obedience  to  any  law.  However  harsh  or 
unjust  it  has  been,  it  has  been  obeyed,  until  by  influence 
it  could  be  changed,  and  every  effort  to  secure  such  in- 
fluence has  been  in  the  open.  This  somewhat  extended 
reference  to  political  matters  apparently  outside  the 
sphere  of  missions,  has  been  made  because  of  their  vital 
relation  not  merely  to  the  public  work  but  the  develop- 
ment of  the  life  of  the  native  church. 

Relation  to  Oriental  Churches. — In  this  develop- 
ment, the  original  idea  of  the  missionaries  was  not  lost 
sight  of.  Although  the  strengthening  of  the  Protestant 
community  became  a  necessity,  there  was  no  eff"ort  to 
weaken  the  old  Churches.  They  were  antagonized  as  lit- 
tle as  possible.  Polemical  preaching  was  seldom  used. 
In  the  pulpit,  by  the  teacher,  and  in  ordinary  conversa- 
tion emphasis  was  laid  upon  the  Christian  life  rather 
than  upon  the  form  of  creed  or  the  ritual  of  worship. 
Whenever  possible,  cordial  relations  with  priests  and 
members  of  the  old  communities  were  kept  up,  and  while 
there  was  no  condoning  of  error,  stress  was  laid,  not  on 
error,  but  on  truth.  The  ease  with  which  this  was  done, 
however,  varied  greatly  with  diff'erent  communities. 
With  the  Greeks  it  was  perhaps  most  difficult.  In  Syria, 
among  the  Maronites,  it  was  the  same.  There  aggressive 
Protestantism  was  necessary.  So  also,  though  in  some- 
what less  degree,  among  the  Copts  of  Egypt  and  the 
Jacobites  of  Mesoi)Otamia.  The  Nestorians  of  Persia 
were  in  some  respects  the  most  approachable,  while  the 


Western  Asia  233 

Bulgarians  welcomed  the  new  ideas,  but  thought  it  un- 
necessary to  leave  their  own  Church.  Among  the  Ar- 
menians also  there  was  considerable  difference  in  differ- 
ent localities.  In  eastern  Turkey,  the  home  of  their 
nation,  they  resisted  most  energetically  the  advance  of 
Protestantism.  South  of  the  Taurus,  and  wherever  the 
use  of  the  Turkish  language  under  the  pressure  of  the 
Turk  had  become  general,  they  were,  more  easily 
reached,  the  Protestant  communities  were  the  largest, 
and  the  relations  with  the  old  Churches  were  the  most 
pleasant. 

Methods. — From  the  beginning  it  was  realized  that  the 
great  work  must  be  done  by  those  native  to  the  soil.  Hence 
while  no  opportunity  was  lost  for  reaching  men  by  preach- 
ing, personal  conversation,  etc.,  great  stress  was.  laid 
upon  the  training  of  men  for  teachers  and  preachers.  In 
this  the  prime  essential  was  correct  versions  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. To  the  ordinary  Armenian,  Greek  or  Bulgarian, 
his  ancient  Bible  was  practically  an  unknown  tongue,  and 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  priests  even  could  not  un- 
derstand the  service.  The  versions  in  modern  Armenian, 
in  Bulgarian,  in  Syriac,  in  Turkish,  are  among  the  tri- 
umphs of  modern  scholarship,  while  that  in  Arabic  with 
its  large  circulation  and  the  honour  paid  to  its  style 
stands  unsurpassed  by  any  of  the  great  versions  of  the 
Church ;  the  names  of  Riggs,  Schauffler,  Eli  Smith  and 
Van  Dyck,  will  ever  stand  high  among  scholars  as  well 
as  among  devoted  missionary  workers. 

Education. — But  the  people  must  be  taught  to  read. 
Primary  schools  were  started  everywhere.  From  these 
grew  higher  grades  until,  under  the  lead  of  Cyrus  Ham- 
lin, Daniel  Bliss  and  others,  colleges  sprang  up  through- 
out the  country.     The  pioneer  (1863)  was  Robert  Col- 


234  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

lege  at  Constantinople,  but  only  by  a  short  time;  then 
came  the  Syrian  Protestant  College  at  Beirut,  bolh  insti- 
tutions of  international  fame.  Others  have  followed, 
till  in  Asia  Minor  there  are  five,  while  Persia,  Egypt, 
Bulgaria  have  each  their  own,  not  to  speak  of  insti- 
tutions almost  if  not  quite  of  collegiate  rank.  Colleges 
for  girls,  too,  have  come  into  being  at  Constantinople, 
Smyrna  and  Marash,  while  of  those  of  a  little  lower  grade 
the  number  is  great.  These  have  had  their  influence  on  the 
other  communities.  A  missionary  in  Syria  told  a  friend 
that  he  was  going  into  a  village  on  the  Lebanon  to  start 
three  schools.  When  asked  what  he  meant,  he  replied  : 
*'  I  shall  start  one,  but  that  will  compel  the  other  communi- 
ties to  start  theirs,  so  there  will  be  three."  It  is  significant 
of  the  general  situation  that  when  Russia  sought  to 
strengthen  her  hold  on  Syria  and  Palestine,  she  felt  obliged 
to  start  scliools  in  the  villages.  It  was  the  schools  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  Mission  in  Egypt  that  gave  it  its 
popularity  with  the  Khedive,  and  proved  a  most  valuable 
asset  in  influence.  With  the  schools  came  ability  to 
read  the  Bible,  and  the  presses  in  Constantinople  and 
Beirut,  and  the  ability  of  the  American  and  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Societies  was  taxed  to  furnish  copies.  The 
first  edition  of  the  new  Osmanli-Turkish  Bible  was 
exhausted  before  a  new  one  could  be  made  ready, 
while  colporteurs  went  everywhere  throughout  the 
empire. 

Scarcely  second  in  importance  was  the  literature, 
especially  the  periodical  literature.  It  has  been  said  that 
Bulgaria  owes  its  existence  to  Robert  College,  and  it  is 
true,  yet  the  leaders  educated  there  would  have  ac- 
complished little  except  as  the  weekly  visits  of  the 
ZornUza,  published  by  the  mission,  had  carried  to  the 


Western  Asia  235 

homes  lessons  of  righteousness  and  true  patriotism. 
And  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  Armenian  and 
Greek  papers.  Books,  too,  were  provided,  but  the 
supply,  because  of  the  greater  expense,  was  sadly  cur- 
tailed. 

.The  Native  Church. — Turning  now  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  native  church,  the  growth  was  much  slower, 
and  for  a  time  created  anxiety.  That,  however,  this  was 
due  to  the  general  conditions,  especially  political,  was 
evident  as  soon  as  it  became  strong  enough  to  overcome 
them.  So  long  as  excommunication  meant  starvation,  or 
very  nearly  that,  it  was  impossible  to  avoid  much  foreign 
help,  always  a  detriment.  It  is  to  be  remembered  also 
that  the  Christians  of  Turkey  had  to  be  taught  the  es- 
sential elements  of  true  independence.  For  years  under 
a  tyrranous  oppression,  they  had  lost  much  of  vigour,  and 
were  too  ready  to  accept  all  and  ask  for  more.  There 
were,  indeed,  noble  instances  of  sacrifice,  and  the  fact 
that  under  the  fire  of  such  bitter  experiences  as  have 
marked  the  past  twenty  years  the  churches  have  gone 
steadily  on  gaining  in  self-development,  shows  that  even 
the  long  centuries  of  Turkish  rule  had  not  been  able  to 
crush  the  ideal  of  Christian  life.  It  was  natural  too  that 
in  Turkey  should  come  the  first  manifestation  of  the  ex- 
perience that  almost  every  mission  has  to  pass  through, 
when  the  native  church  and  ministry  outgrow  tutelage  and 
attain  to  manhood. .  That  that  period  was  safely  passed, 
and  that  native  churches  and  foreign  missionaries  are 
nowhere  on  more  cordial  terms  of  mutual  help  is  witness 
to  the  genuine  devotion  and  the  sanctified  common 
sense  of  all  parties.  As  these  lines  are  written  word 
comes  of  the  pastor  of  a  large  and  influential  church  in 
an  interior  city  leaving  his  parish  to  go  as  an  evangelist 


236  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

among  the  villages  of  Kurdistan,  a  life  of  heroic  priva- 
tion ;  of  a  church  needing  money  for  its  own  edifice 
raising  not  only  twice  but  three  times  what  the  most 
ardent  hopes  conceived  as  possible. 

If  Turkey  and  Syria  have  bulked  more  largely  in  the 
public  eye,  it  is  not  because  the  work  has  been  more  im- 
portant than  elsewhere.  The  mission  commenced  at 
Urumia,  in  Northern  Persia,  extended  not  merely  into 
the  mountains  under  the. lead  of  Dr.  Grant,  but  over 
the  plains  to  Tabriz,  and  south  to  Teheran  and  Rama- 
dan, and  eastward  to  Resht  and  even  Meshed.  There 
too  Russia  cast  her  envious  eye,  and  sent  ecclesiastics  to 
the  Nestorians  with  proffers  of  help  from  the  White  Czar 
if  they  would  but  forego  the  differences  they  had  never  un- 
derstood, and  accept  the  Synod's  rule.  What  wonder  that 
many  were  enticed  away,  but  the  evangelicals  stood  firm, 
and  the  seed  sown  through  half  a  century  by  Perkins, 
Stoddard  and  others,  bore  fruit.  When  the  "  beloved 
physician,"  Dr.  Cochran,  and  the  martyred  Labaree, 
passed  to  the  other  life,  no  words  can  tell  the  eloquent 
story  of  the  tribute  paid  to  them  by  all  of  every  race 
and  faith. 

When  the  gifted  young  Scotch  laird.  Ion  Keith-Fal- 
coner, established  a  mission  in  Southern  Arabia,  it 
seemed  a  hopeless  task.  So  when,  under  the  influence  of 
a  missionary's  son  brought  up  under  the  shadow  of  the 
University  of  El  Azhar  in  Cairo,  Peter  Zwemer  and  his 
associates  went  up  the  shores  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  dared 
the  heat  terrors  of  Muscat  and  Bahrein,  **  Does  it  pay  ?  " 
was  asked  by  many.  Already  the  physician  has  un- 
locked many  a  door  and  entered  many  a  tent  in  the  very 
stronghold  of  Islam. 

From  the  schools  of  Cairo  and  the  college  at  Assiout 


Western  Asia  237 

men  have  gone  hand  in  hand  with  their  teachers,  and 
tracing  the  waters  of  the  Upper  Nile,  conquering  the 
very  foe  that  struck  Gordon  down,  are  planting  mission 
stations  that  shall  yet  realize  the  dream  of  St.  Chrischona, 
of  an  Apostelstrasse  into  the  heart  of  Africa.  It  will  not 
be  long  before  the  successors  of  Mackay  and  Hanning- 
ton  of  Uganda  shall  clasp  hands  with  those  of  Lansing 
and  Hogg,  and  the  Cape-to-Cairo  railway  will  be  but 
the  link  of  steel,  connecting  some  of  the  greatest  vic- 
tories of  modern  missions. 

In  the  spring  of  1906,  a  company  of  workers  met  in 
Cairo,  to  consider  the  question  of  conquering,  or  better 
winning,  Islam  for  Christ.  There  was  little  known  of 
their  counsels  or  their  work,  yet  rumours  of  it  penetrated 
to  the  cloisters  of  El  Azhar,  and  scarcely  had  they 
gone  back  to  their  fields  and  labour,  when  Moslem 
Mollahs  gathered  in  earnest  conclave  to  consider  how 
Islam  might  meet  its  deadliest  foe. 

It  is  in  these  lands  that  the  mightiest  conflict  of 
missions  must  take  place.  Preparation  has  been  made 
through  nearly  a  century  of  patient  effort.  On  both 
sides  it  is  seen  to  be  inevitable.  The  feverish  rush  of 
the  North  African  tribesmen,  led  by  the  vague  power  of 
a  chief,  El-Senoussi,  whose  very  existence  has  been 
denied,  yet  who  is  and  must  be  a  mighty  influence  ;  the 
restless  anxiety  of  the  Indian  priests;  the  bitter  hostility 
of  the  Central  Asian  khanates  ;  all  center  around  the 
Empire  of  the  Turk  and  the  Cradle  of  Islam.  No- 
where, not  even  in  China  or  Japan,  is  there  need  of 
deeper  laid  foundations,  or  stronger  bulwarks  than  in  the 
lands  of  Western  Asia.  The  foundations  have  been 
laid,  not  alone  in  the  cities,  but  in  the  villages  from  the 
Black  Sea  and  the  Caspian  to  Khartum.     The  bulwarks 


238  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

are  rising.  It  remains  for  them  to  be  completed  and  the 
evangehcal  churches,  no  longer  separated  by  ecclesias- 
tical or  national  prejudices,  will  unite  to  reconquer  the 
Levant  in  all  its  extent  for  Christ. 


XV 

INDIA 

INDIA  is  not  a  country,  it  is  a  continent.  It  in- 
vites superlatives.  Its  lofty  mountains  and  vast 
plains,  its  mighty  rivers  and  dense  jungles,  its 
marvellous  fertility  and  terrible  famines,  its  colossal  wealth 
and  extreme  poverty,  are  matched  by  its  brilliant  and 
inert  people,  its  superb  architecture  and  miserable  hovels, 
its  sublime  philosophy  and  degrading  superstition,  its  in- 
numerable gods  and  unspeakable  vices. 

From  time  immemorial  it  has  been  the  goal  of  con- 
querors and  their  tomb.  Across  the  mighty  barrier  of 
the  north  army  after  army  has  poured  into  its  provinces, 
conquered  and  then  been  conquered,  not  by  arms  but  by 
the  genius  of  the  land,  and  remained  to  form  one  more 
of  those  mutually  hostile  elements  which  are  fatal  to  a 
country's  power. 

Christianity  also  entered  the  field.  First  came  the 
Greeks  from  Alexandria,  then  the  Nestorians  from  Persia, 
and  when  the  Portuguese  came  in  the  fifteenth  century 
they  found  a  large  community,  which  Xavier  and  his 
followers  sought,  chiefly  in  vain,  to  bring  into  the  Roman 
communion.  The  Jesuits  won  large  numbers  of  the 
lower  castes,  but  their  work  had  little  staying  power,  and 
though  their  converts  were  numbered  by  the  hundred 
thousand  their  acceptance  of  caste  and  accommodation 
to  heathen  ideas  weakened  them.  Then  came  the  Dutch, 
carrying   the  Reformed   doctrine  as  a  sort  of  addendum 

239 


240  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

to  their  trade,  and  losing  the  faith  when  they  lost 
colonial  rule.  More  successful,  not  perhaps  in  numbers 
but  in  spiritual  fervour,  was  the  Danish  work  of  Zeigen- 
balg  and  his  successors  down  to  Schwartz,  just  closing 
his  years  of  service  at  Tanjore  as  Carey  sailed  up  the 
Hoogly.  Yet  this  had  spent  its  force  and  dwindled  un- 
til, when,  nearly  thirty  years  later  another  society  took 
up  the  work,  little  more  was  found  than  an  organization. 
The  movement  commenced  by  the  Baptist  journeyman 
preacher-scholar  has  continued  until  to-day.  Christian 
missions  are  advancing  at  a  rate  scarcely  dreamed  of  as 
possible  even  half  a  century  ago.  There  is  a  Christian 
community  of  recognized  power  in  the  land,  and  already 
there  is  talk  of  a  National  Church  of  India. 

Occupation  of  the  Field. — It  is  a  somewhat  singular 
fact  that  it  was  eleven  years  after  Carey  landed  at  Cal- 
cutta before  any  other  societies  entered  India.  In  1804 
the  London  Missionary  Society  occupied  South  India, 
extending  its  work  in  successive  years  until,  by  1820,  it 
had  stations  on  both  the  east  and  west  shores  and  in 
North  India.  In  18 13  the  Church  Missionary  Society, 
already  in  a  degree  represented  by  Henry  Martyn  as 
chaplain,  sent  one  of  his  converts  to  Agra  as  an  evan- 
gelist, the  Wesleyans  opened  their  work  in  Ceylon,  and 
the  American  Board  missionaries  effected  their  perma- 
nent landing  at  Bombay.  The  next  reinforcement  was 
from  Scotland,  Dr.  Duff  coming  from  the  Established 
Church  in  1829.  Four  years  later  the  Presbyterians  of 
America  established  their  work,  and  the  next  year  (1834) 
the  Basel  Society  joined  the  company,  the  Free  Bap- 
tists of  America  following  in  1835  and  joining  the 
General  Baptists  of  England,  who  had  separated  from 
the   Carey   mission   at  Serampore  in  18 16.     Then  came 


India  241 

the  Baptist  work  among  the  Telugus  in  1836  ;  the  Lu- 
therans of  America  in  1840;  and  the  United  Presbyterians 
and  Methodists  of  America  had  but  just  entered  the  field 
when  the  mutiny  of  1857  broke  up  most  of  the  existing 
work.  Out  of  the  ruins,  however,  sprang  a  larger  and 
more  extended  missionary  interest  and  an  increase  of  ag- 
gressive effort.  Among  .the  enterprises  immediately 
started  were  those  of  the  Christian  Verriacular  Educa- 
tion Society,  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scot- 
land, the  Welsh  Presbyterians,  and  others,  while  the 
societies  already  in  the  field  extended  their  efforts  as 
rapidly  as  possible.  Mention  should  also  be  made  of 
the  zenana  societies  and  those  for  promoting  female  edu- 
cation started  before  the  mutiny,. while  Gossner's  society 
had  commenced  its  marvellous  work  among  the  Kols. 
There  were  also  a  number  of  individual  or  faith  missions 
of  various  kinds,  one  of  which,  at  EUichpur,  became  the 
nucleus  for  the  work  of  the  Christian  and  Missionary 
Alliance.  At  the  present  time  almost  the  only  organiza- 
tions for  general  mission  work  not  represented  in  India 
are  the  French,  Dutch,  and  Norwegian  societies,  and  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States. 
They  are  also  so  distributed  as  to  cover  the  whole  em- 
pire, not  merely  the  British,  but  the  native  states,  and  to 
reach  every  class  of  people. 

The  Governmenl. — More  even  than  in  almost  any 
other  mission  field  is  it  necessary  in  India  to  have  some 
knowledge  of  the  problems  of  government.  Scarcely  has 
even  Russia  been  more  fiercely  criticised  than  England 
for  her  failure  to  do  away  with  social  abuses,  famines,  op- 
pression, any  or  all  the  evils  in  the  country.  To  govern 
these  hundred  millions  of  people  belonging  to  a  great 
variety  of  races,   speaking  over  one  hundred  languages 


242  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

and  fifty  dialects;  separated  from  each  other  by  the  rigid 
walls  of  caste ;  living  not  to  any  great  extent  in  cities 
but  in  over  seven  hundred  thousand  villages,  each  with 
its  own  communistic  government;  under  the  sway  of 
leaders  of  as  keen  intellectual  ability,  as  brilliant  powers 
of  public  influence,  as  any  of  any  race  or  age  ;  holding 
to  four  distinct  classes  of  religion,  two  of  them  with 
innumerable  gradations  of  deities,  all  bitter  against  every 
other,  is  in  itself  a  task  of  unparalleled  difficulty. 
When  to  this  is  added  the  problem  of  holding  in  check 
the  numerous  influences  that  pour  from  the  West  into 
the  East,  seeking  self  aggrandizement  no  matter  at  what 
cost  to  the  land  itself;  providing  assistance  in  promoting 
general  welfare,  by  railroads,  irrigation,  postal  and  tele- 
graph facilities,  the  numberless  conveniences  that  the 
Indian  sees  in  the  West  and  thinks  he  ought  to  have  in 
the  East ;  to  do  all  this  through  men  subject  themselves 
to  influences  of  many  kinds  constitutes  a  problem  that 
might  well  stagger  any  nation.  Little  wonder  is  it  that 
all  has  not  been  done  that  many  think  ought  to  have 
been  done,  yet  to  the  government  of  England  India  owes 
more  than  can  be  told ;  and  its  value  to  missions,  both 
in  protection  and  positive  assistance  is  beyond  measure. 

The  East  India  Company. — This  politico-commer- 
cial organization  played  as  important  a  part  in  the  prep- 
aration for  missions  in  India  as  discovery  did  in  Africa. 
The  charter  of  this  company,  signed  on  the  last  day  of 
1600  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  recognized  simply  the  needs 
and  opportunities  of  trade.  In  accordance  with  this, 
little  was  done  except  to  establish  factories  and  trade 
centers  in  various  places  on  both  the  east  and  west  coasts. 
Constantly,  however,  coming  into  conflict  with  the 
Mohammedan  and  Marathi  rulers,  the  company  decided. 


India  243 

in  1689,  to  consolidate  its  position  on  the  basis  of  terri- 
torial sovereignty,  and  changed  its  clerks  and  agents 
throughout  the  land  into  officials.  Calcutta,  Madras, 
and  Bombay  were  even  then  the  centers.  The  death  of 
Aurangzeb  (1707)  practically  freed  South  India  from  the 
T^Ioslem  Moguls  at  Delhi,  and  the  defeat  of  the  French 
(1744-60)  left  the  English  masters  of  the  east  coast. 
In  1757  came  the  terrible  Black  Hole  tragedy  at  Cal- 
cutta, followed  by  the  destruction  of  the  powerful  nawabs 
of  Bengal,  and  the  way  was  opened  for  the  great  work  of 
Warren  Hastings  in  organizing  the  empire.  The  gen- 
eral principle  was  that  of  placing  in  control  of  the  differ- 
ent native  states  inen  who  could  be  relied  upon  to  favour 
British  interests  and  preserve  peace.  Occasionally  one 
of  them  revolted,  but  invariably  paid  the  penalty.  A 
few  alliances  of  native  states  were  formed,  especially  in 
western  India,  but  the  overthrow  of  the  Marathi  power 
and  of  the  central  Indian  Moslem  rulers  not  only  con- 
tributed to  English  prestige,  but  established  English  rule. 
In  all  this  there  was  manifest  one  constant  policy :  to 
repress  any  insurrection,  even  the  manifestation  of 
hostility,  promptly  and  effectively,  but  to  do  as  little  as 
possible  to  arouse  antagonisms.  So  long  as  English  pre- 
dominance was  secured,  native  customs  and  prejudices 
were  interfered  with  no  more  than  was  absolutely  neces- 
sary. Any  elements  therefore  which  might  tend  to  ex- 
cite the  religious  fanaticism  of  the  people  or  weaken  the 
authority  of  officials  were  not  merely  discouraged,  but 
opposed.  The  Danish  missionaries  of  Tranquebar,  hav- 
ing a  recognized  position  and  being  honoured  by  the 
natives,  were  favoured  also  by  the  British,  and  Schwartz 
was  frequently  employed  in  embassies  to  the  native 
princes.     The    advent    of    Carey  however  was   looked 


244  ^^^^  Missionary  Enterprise 

upon  with  suspicion,  and  when  Henry  Martyn  wanted  to 
represent  the  Church  of  England  in  mission  work  he  was 
compelled  to  take  instead  a  chaplaincy,  and  do  what  he 
could,  in  a  sense,  at  second  hand.  Under  the  influence 
of  good  men  in  the  board  of  directors,  efforts  were  made 
to  provide  the  resident  Englishmen  with  church  privileges, 
and  some  would  have  been  glad  to  influence  the  natives ; 
but  in  the  main  the  idea  of  the  officials  was  that  the 
native  religions  were,  on  the  whole,  better  adapted  to 
the  people  of  the  land,  and  Islam,  Hinduism,  Buddhism, 
were  encouraged  and  even  assisted.  With  the  com- 
mencement of  the  present  century  there  came  a  marked 
change.  The  new  charter  (i 8 13)  expressed  the  broader 
views  of  the  company.  The  American  missionaries 
secured  the  right  to  reside  in  Bombay,  and  afterwards 
the  work  of  missionaries  of  every  class  was  encouraged, 
although  such  restrictions  as  were  deemed  essential  to  the 
preserving  of  order  were  enforced.  This  was  largely  due 
to  such  men  as  the  Lawrences,  Edwardes,  Havelock,  and 
others.  The  great  mutiny  (1857)  proved  the  end  of  the 
company,  and  the  proclamation  of  Victoria  Empress  of 
India  (1858)  introduced  a  new  order,  in  which,  while 
care  was  taken  to  mete  out  justice  to  all  and  to  infringe 
on  no  rights,  Christianity  was  recognized  as  the  religion 
of  the  government,  and  its  propagation  as  a  legitimate 
enterprise.  From  the  experiences  of  Carey  and  Judson 
this  company  has  been  often  looked  upon  as  merely  a 
hindrance.  Unquestionably  it  did  not  intentionally  as- 
sist or  even  countenance  missionary  effort,  yet  none  the 
less  truly  was  it  of  great  service  to  the  cause  of  missions 
and  a  most  important  factor  in  their  development.  So 
also  still  tliere  are  government  officials  who  look  with 
doubt    if   not  with    positive   disfavour  on  some  of  the 


India  245 

missionary's  work,  fearing  that  it  will  increase  troubles 
rather  than  lessen  them ;  yet  on  the  whole  the  influence 
of  the  government  and  of  its  strongest  officials  has  been 
and  is  in  hearty  accord  with  the  general  purpose  and  for 
the  most  part  with  the  specific  course  adopted  by  the 
missionaries. 

,  The  missionary  problems  are  as  varied  as  the  physical 
conditions  of  the  land,  or  the  characteristics  of  the  peo- 
ple. Yet  through  them  all  run  certain  features.  The  one 
overpowering  all  else,  entering  into  all  specific  forms, 
dominating  at  every  turn,  is  caste.  India  is  the  most 
religious  country  in  the  world.  Religion  is  everything 
and  everywhere. 

Caste, — The  purity  of  the  original  Vedas  has  long] 
since  vanished,  so  far  as  any  practical  power  for  life  is 
concerned,  and  Hinduisai  has  become  a  confused  jumble 
of  meaningless  ceremonies  and  indecent  rites.  Its  chief  i 
weapon  for  rule  is  caste.  With  it  Buddhism  was  con-  [ 
quered  and  driven  out  of  the  peninsula,  henceforth  to  be 
found  alone  in  Ceylon  and  Farther  India  and  Siam,  be- 
fore it  reached  on  to  China  and  Japan.  With  the  same 
force  Islam  was  conquered,  and  the  Moslem  democracy 
of  Arabia  has  degenerated  into  a  sort  of  accommodation 
which,  while  by  no  means  destroying,  has  unquestionably 
weakened  the  hold  that  once  was  so  firm,  not  merely  on 
its  own  followers  but  on  the  conquered  races.  Before 
this  same  power  the  Roman  Catholic  missions  weakened, 
and  the  Danish  Tamil  Mission  failed  to  hold  its  own. 
One  only  of  the  early  missions,  the  Syrian  colony  at 
Malabar,  refused  to  be  its  victim  and  thus  preserved 
its  individuality  and  at  least  a  modicum  of  life.  How 
pervasive  it  is  is  evident  from  the  statement  made,  that  the 
four  original  castes  have  been  subdivided   until  in  the 


246  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

highest  alone,  the  Brahman,  there  are  nearly  two  thousand 
sub-castes  and  even  Brahraans  from  different  provinces 
will  often  not  eat  together.  How  powerful  it  is  is  shown 
in  the  forcing  of  Brahmans  who  by  travel  have  lost  caste, 
to  go  through  disgusting  processes  of  purification  before 
they  can  be  restored  to  their  friends.  How  insidious  it 
is  is  witnessed  to  by  missionaries  of  every  society,  who 
find  it  facing  them  in  innumerable  forms  in  their 
schools,  their  personal  relations,  and  in  the  churches. 
It  requires  a  clear  vision,  a  firm  hand,  a  strong  will  not 
to  be  overborne  by  it.  Yet  it  must  be  done  or  modern 
missions  will  go  the  way  of  their  predecessors. 

There  are,  too,  the  problems  presented  on  the  one 
hand  by  the  brilliant,  highly  intellectual,  most  attractive, 
Brahman  or  IVIoslem ;  on  the  other,  by  the  poverty- 
stricken,  ignorant,  degraded  outcaste  or  pariah.  Each 
appeals  to  the  missionary,  but  in  very  different  ways. 
Each  must  be  dealt  with,  but  by  very  diverse  methods. 
How  far  is  the  one  to  be  recognized  as  of  kindred  ideas 
and  purposes?  How  far  is  the  other  to  be  welcomed  en 
masse  ?  Nowhere  on  the  mission  field  is  there  greater 
danger  of  admitting  to  church  membership  such  a  mass 
of  "baptized  paganism"  than  in  India.  Nowhere  is  it 
harder  to  draw  the  line  between  the  refined  and  cultured 
recognition,  even  adoration,  of  Jesus  the  Teacher  and  the 
devout  following  of  Jesus  the  Saviour. 

Persecution. — There  are  the  problems  arising  from 
persecution,  bitter  and  relentless.  Wholesale  massacre 
is,  of  course,  impossible,  but  more  perhaps  to  be  dreaded 
than  that  is  the  out-casteing  of  those  who  leave  their  kin 
and  their  gods.  Poverty,  distress  of  the  bitterest  type, 
await  almost  all ;  and  there  is  not  wanting  the  subtle  re- 
venge that  spirits  away  tbc  offender,  or  drains  the  life  by 


India  247 

means  known  only  to  the  initiated.  Not  greater  is  the 
contrast  between  the  eternal  snows  of  the  Himalayas  and 
the  reeking  jungles,  than  that  between  the  spirit  and 
teaching  of  the  early  Vedas  and  the  modern  filth  of  the 
Hindu  worship.  And  yet  the  comparison  does  not  hold, 
for  the  worst  debauchery  of  the  land  finds  its  support  in 
the  highest  caste ;  and  no. enmity  is  to  be  dreaded  like 
that  of  those  who  with  suave  manner  will,  assure  the 
Christian  that  all  men  are  brothers.  What  is  to  be  done 
for,  or  with,  the  persecuted?  Driven  from  their  trade 
guild  how  are  they  to  earn  a  living  ?  Or  if  perchance 
they  succeed  in  that,  to  what  extent  can  they  be  called 
upon  to  tax  the  very  life  still  further  for  the  support  of  a 
"free"  gospel?  This  particular  problem  indeed  lessens 
in  force  as  the  community  increases  and  compels  recogni- 
tion. It  is  not  as  intense  to-day  as  it  has  been,  but  it  is 
still  most  pressing. 

So  there  is  the  problem  of  polygamy.  It  is  easy  to  de- 
cide the  question  in  America,  and  in  some  mission  fields. 
Not  so  in  India.  The  wisest  and  the  best  differ,  and 
differ  widely.  There  is  the  problem  of  education.  How 
far  shall  it  be  carried,  dependent  upon  mission  funds? 
And  so  on  through  a  long  list  of  perplexing  questions. 
But  perhaps  the  one  that  calls  for  the  greatest  care  is  the 
organization  of  the  native  church.  If  anything  is  clear 
in  the  conduct  of  missions,  it  is  that  the  winning  of  any 
country  or  race  to  Christ  must  be  done  chiefly  by  the 
people  of  the  land,  united  for  Christian  life,  organized 
for  Christian  work.  Equally  evident  is  it  that  each  land, 
each  race,  must  be  studied  by  itself.  While  one  mission 
field  may  learn  something  from  the  experience  of  other 
fields,  it  must  study  the  situation  for  itself,  decide  its 
questions  by  itself. 


248  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

The  Pioneers. — The  work  of  the  pioneers  was  di- 
rectly in  the  line  of  the  solution  of  this  problem.  By  the 
closest  of  study,  Carey  mastered  the  languages,  while,  as 
superintendent  of  an  indigo  factory,  he  informed  himself 
as  to  the  character  and  conditions  of  the  people.  After 
six  years  of  this  kind  of  work  he  was  joined  by  Marsh- 
man  and  Ward,  and  at  Serampore  was  started  the  press 
which,  by  its  publication  of  Scriptures  and  of  books  in 
every  department  of  literature,  commenced  the  attack  on 
the  great  systems  of  religious  and  philosophic  thought 
that  have  been  the  basis  of  the  social  and  civil  life  of 
India  for  centuries,  and  before  which  they  are  already 
showing  signs  of  yielding.  Two  years  later  (1801)  the 
Bengali  New  Testament  was  printed,  the  forerunner  of 
the  Bible  (1809)  and  of  versions  of  the  Scriptures  in 
whole  or  in  part  in  twenty-four  languages  and  dialects, 
prepared  during  thirty  years  of  unceasing  work.  Not 
less  significant  of  his  conception  of  the  work  of  a  mission- 
ary were  his  acceptance  of  the  professorship  of  Sanskrit, 
Bengali,  and  Marathi  in  the  new  Fort  William  College 
at  Calcutta,  and  his  services  to  philology  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  grammars  and  dictionaries  in  those  languages  as 
well  as  in  the  Telugu  and  Punjabi.  In  all  this  his  idea  was 
so  to  fit  himself  as  to  be  able  most  effectively  to  meet  the 
problem  of  missions,  and  to  take  advantage  of  every  pos- 
sible point  to  make  his  blows  more  effective.  Similarly, 
in  1801,  he  wrote  to  his  society  urging  the  use  of  educa- 
tion in  English  as  a  means  of  attracting  the  Brahmans 
and  diffusing  a  knowledge  of  the  gospel.  He  believed 
in  preaching,  and  practiced  his  belief  whether  at  the  in- 
digo factory  or  at  Serampore.  He  built  his  first  church 
in  1797,  and  laboured  constantly  for  the  conversion  of 
individuals.     His    conception,  however,  of  the  relation 


India  249 

of  church  organization  to  the  great  work  of  undermining 
and  destroying  the  system  which  hindered  church  or- 
ganization is  seen  in  the  following  quotations  from  a  letter 
to  the  Baptists  in  Burma  in  18 16,  just  after  Judson  had 
joined  them. 

«  ''We  know  not  what  your  immediate  expectations  are 
relative  to  the  Burman  empire,  but  we  hope  your  views 
are  not  confined  to  the  immediate  conversion  of  the 
natives  by  the  preaching  of  the  Word.  Could  a  church 
of  converted  natives  be  obtained  at  Rangun,  it  might 
exist  for  a  while,  or  be  scattered,  or  perish  for  want  of 
additions.  From  all  we  have  seen  hitherto  we  are  ready 
to  think  that  the  dispensations  of  Providence  point  to 
labours  that  may  operate,  indeed,  more  slowly  on  the 
population,  but  more  effectually  in  the  end.  .  .  . 
The  slow  progress  of  conversion  in  such  a  mode  of  teach- 
ing the  natives  may  not  be  so  encouraging,  and  may  re- 
quire in  all  more  faith  and  patience ;  but  it  appears  to 
have  been  the  process  of  things  in  the  progress  of  the 
Reformation  ;  .  .  .  and  the  grand  result  will  amply 
recompense  us,  and  you,  for  all  our  toils." 

Policy  of  the  Missions. — The  missionaries  of  the 
American  Board  at  Bombay  (18 13),  Ceylon  (18 16),  and 
Madura  (1834)  carried  out  the  same  principles  that  Carey 
had  laid  down  at  Calcutta.  Hall  and  Newell  at  Bombay, 
as  soon  as  they  could  master  the  language,  went  to  the 
markets,  temples,  fairs,  wherever  they  could  find  the 
people,  but  soon  became  convinced  that  they  must  rely 
to  a  great  degree,  upon  publications,  for  which  they 
secured  a  press  ;  and  upon  schools,  even  though  for  some 
time  they  were  obliged  to  depend  chiefly  upon  native  and 
heathen  teachers  for  a  large  part  of  the  instruction. 
Every  effort    indeed    was    made   to   exercise   as    much 


250  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Christian  influence  as  possible  on  the  children,  and  in 
many  cases  they  were  brought  into  Christian  homes  and 
given  Christian  names.  It  was  significant  that  the  first 
convert  at  Bombay  was  a  Moslem,  and  that  his  change  of 
faith  was  occasioned  by  a  tract.  As  the  missionaries 
sought  to  enter  the  interior  and  meet  the  turbulent 
Marathis,  their  only  means  at  first  were  the  schools  by 
which  they  aroused  the  interest  and  then  won  the  confi- 
dence of  the  people.  Similar  experiences  attended  the 
establishment  of  the  Ceylon  mission,  afterwards  extended 
to  the  south  coast  of  India  among  the  same  Tamil  peo- 
ple. Free  day-schools  and  boarding-schools  were  es- 
tablished and  crowded,  and  in  a  few  years  plans  were 
laid  for  a  college  at  Jaffna,  followed  later  by  another  col- 
lege at  Pasumalai,  Madura.  The  formation  of  churches 
had  not,  however,  been  rapid,  and  there  was  considerable 
feeling  among  the  supporters  of  the  missions  that  the 
evangelistic  character  of  the  work  was  being  subordinated 
to  the  educational.  The  practice  thus  inaugurated  has 
been  followed  by  other  American  societies,  and  the 
Presbyterian  College  at  Lahore,  the  Methodist  colleges, 
one  for  men  and  one  for  women,  at  Lucknow,  the 
Lutheran  College  at  Guntur,  and  the  Baptist  College  at 
Ongole,  not  less  than  the  large  number  of  schools,  in- 
dicate the  value  put  upon  this  form  of  mission  work. 
The  work  of  the  Methodists  among  the  Sweepers  and  of 
the  Baptists  and  others  among  the  Telugus  is  referred 
to  below. 

English  and  Scotch  Missions  also  have  followed 
the  same  general  policy  inaugurated  by  Carey.  The 
Church  Missionary  Society,  as  it  has  the  widest  work,  so 
it  has  the  largest  number  of  institutions  in  every  section  ; 
but  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  has  a 


India  251 

number,  and  the  London  Missionary  Society,  while  de- 
voting itself  somewhat  more  to  strictly  evangelistic  work, 
is  by  no  means  neglecting  the  educational.  To  the 
Scotch,  however,  belongs  the  lead  in  educational  mis- 
sions, and  the  three  colleges  at  Calcutta,  Madras,  and 
Bombay  are  the  result  of  a  course  of  action  carefully 
considered,  definitely  decided  upon,  and  consistently  fol- 
lowed. There  have  been  numerous  attacks  upon  them, 
claiming  that  they  emphasize  education  at  the  expense  of 
Christianity,  and  thus  are  not  properly  mission  colleges. 
In  view  of  these  charges  a  special  deputation  was  sent  to 
investigate  in  1888,  and  the  result  was  a  hearty  indorse- 
ment of  their  action,  recognizing  that  the  special  sphere 
of  the  Scotch  missions  appears  to  be  among  the  educated 
classes  and  in  training  evangelists  and  teachers.  It 
should  be  said  that  a  considerable  amount  of  the  criticism 
has  been  occasioned  by  the  relation  held  by  the  mission 
colleges  to  the  imperial  universities.  The  universities, 
under  certain  general  rules,  make  a  money  allowance  to 
colleges  that  come  up  to  a  certain  standard.  It  is 
claimed  that  in  the  effort  to  hold  that  standard,  which  is 
very  high,  both  for  the  sake  of  the  pecuniary  help  and  the 
prestige,  full  attention  to  Christian  instruction  and  in- 
fluence becomes  impracticable,  and  some  have  urged  that 
the  temptation  be  removed  by  declining  the  government 
grants.  » 

Some  of  the  German  societies,  especially  the  Basel 
Society,  have  emphasized  the  industrial  side,  first  for  the 
community,  then  in  training  schools.  These  have  some- 
times developed  to  such  a  degree  as  to  necessitate  separa- 
tion from  the  mission  work,  and  there  has  been  some 
question  as  to  the  wisdom  of  inaugurating  this  type  of 
effort. 


252  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Direct  Evangelism. — It  must  not  be  supposed  that 
while  the  educational  attack  upon  the  systems  of  India 
has  been  pressed,  and  has  furnished  the  general  basis  of 
missionary  policy,  direct  evangelism  has  been  neglected. 
On  the  contrary,  it  has  been  pushed  in  every  conceivable 
way.  The  system  of  market-days  and  of  melas,  fairs 
or  assemblies  of  pilgrims  or  merchants,  has  given  oppor- 
tunities for  preaching  which  have  been  improved  when- 
ever possible.  The  inflammable  character  of  Hindu 
crowds  has  indeed  made  it  necessary  to  exercise  great 
care,  and  public  controversy  has,  as  a  rule,  been  avoided. 
There  have  also  been  certain  general  movements  which 
deserve  notice,  especially  those  among  the  Telugus  and 
the  Sweepers.  The  American  Baptist  mission  among 
the  Telugus  in  East  India,  commenced  in  1836,  for 
thirty  years  met  with  almost  no  success.  Repeated 
proposals  for  abandoning  it  were  made,  but  the  mission- 
aries refused  to  leave  the  "  Lone  Star  Mission,"  as  it  was 
called,  and  at  last  they  met  their  reward  in  one  of  the 
most  phenomenal  successes  in  the  history  of  missions. 
Thousands  applied  for  baptism,  and  although  the  greatest 
care  was  taken  and  the  applicants  were  kept  on  probation 
for  a  long  time,  over  eight  thousand  were  baptized  within 
six  weeks,  including  members  of  the  higher,  as  well  as 
lower  castes.  Even  more  marked  has  been  the  work  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  among  the  Sweepers,  one 
of  the  lowest  castes,  who  applied  in  thousands  for  admis- 
sion to  church-membership.  Other  denominations  have 
had  similar,  though  perhaps  not  equal,  experience.  The 
Gossner  mission  to  the  Kols,  one  of  the  most  degraded 
tribes  in  Central  India,  has  been  very  successful,  and  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  has  raised  up  a  large  and 
practically  self-directing  as  well  as  self-supporting  Chris- 


India  253 

tian  community  in  South  India.  Nor  have  the  lower 
castes  alone  been  reached.  Brahmans  in  considerable 
numbers  have  been  converted,  and  in  North  India  and 
the  Punjab  work  among  the  Moslems  has  met  with  a 
good  degree  of  success.  That  pioneer  work  is  still 
needed,  is  evidenced  by  the  heroic  efforts  to  enter  Tibet. 

A  somewhat  peculiar  .feature  of  this  department  of 
work  has  been  the  succession  of  revivals,  even  in  com- 
munities where  no  great  advance  had  been  made,  and 
confined  to  no  one  section  of  the  country,  or  class  of 
people.  Such  was  the  movement  in  the  Khasia  Hills 
under  the  Welsh  Calvinists  and  particularly  that  under 
the  lead  of  PuiKiita  Ramabai,  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able women  India  has  produced.,  Starting  her  school  for 
Hindu  girl-widows,  then  enlarging  it  to  care  for  the  or- 
phans left  by  the  famines,  she  is  now  the  head  of  a  large 
community  of  Christian  women  and  girls,  in  which  there 
have  been  repeated  scenes  recalling  the  Pentecostal  days. 

Zenana  Work. — In  close  relation  to  these  has  been 
the  development  of  work  for  women,  to  a  degree  known 
in  no  other  mission  field.  Not  merely  the  seclusion  in 
the  zenana,  but  the  terrible  suffering  occasioned  by  the 
customs  of  child-marriage,  the  suttee,  and  the  position  of 
widows,  made  their  condition  almost  more  pitiable  than 
that  of  women  in  Africa  or  China.  It  was  for  them  that 
the  first  women's  societies  were  organized,  and  work  for 
them  has  been  from  the  beginning  an  integral  part  of 
missionary  effort.  Schools  were  established  for  girls  (the 
first  one  by  Miss  M.  A.  Cooke  in  1822)  as  well  as  boys, 
and  in  some  cases,  with  the  advance  in  public  opinion,  co- 
education has  become  possible.  As  it  was  felt  that  suc- 
cess in  this  particular  depended  to  a  great  degree  upon 
changes  in  the  customs  of  the  country,  missionaries  have 


254  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost  to  secure  such  laws  as 
would  remove  the  legality  of  the  oppressive  customs,  and 
to  assist  the  formation  of  public  opinion.  First  to  be 
accomplished  was  the  abolishing  of  the  suttee,  the  gov- 
ernor-general asking  Carey  to  translate  this  order  into 
Bengali,  and  his  almost  nervous  haste  to  comply  reveals 
that  he  considered  it  of  great  moment.  Then  followed 
other  reforms.  The  efforts  of  the  Brahmo-  and  Arya- 
Somajes  joined  those  of  the  missionaries  in  weakening  the 
bonds  of  caste,  and  the  admission  of  women  to  positions 
of  public  influence  has  had  its  share.  Little  by  little 
their  success  has  increased,  and  general  education,  ac- 
companied by  religious  zenana  instruction  and  influence, 
has  had  such  effect  that  the  situation  to-day  is  vastly 
improved. 

Other  Methods. — Parallel  with  schools  and  preach- 
ing has  gone  Bible  and  tract  work.  The  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society  has  naturally  taken  the  lead,  but  a 
large  number  of  local  societies  have  been  formed,  in  most 
cases  auxiliary  to  that,  for  the  purpose  of  caring  for  the 
distribution  in  special  fields.  The  initiative  of  Carey  in 
the  matter  of  Bible  translation  has  been  well  kept  up, 
until  there  is  no  country  better  supplied  with  versions 
of  the  Bible  in  the  various  vernaculars.  Tract  work  has 
also  been  pushed,  and  special  efforts  made,  by  the  prep- 
aration of  a  pure  literature,  to  meet  the  tide  of  false 
ideas  and  enervating  publications  with  which,  as  popu- 
lar education  has  spread  and  a  free  press  has  been  al- 
lowed, the  native  leaders  have  sought  to  turn  aside  the 
influence  of  Christianity.  Dr.  John  Murdock,  of  Madras, 
the  pioneer  in  the  supply  of  Christian  literature  for  India, 
was  long  the  only  missionary  in  any  field  who  gave  his 
whole  time  to  the  work,  and  through  him  the  attention  of 


India  255 

other  societies  has  been  directed  to  the  same  need,  so 
that  there  is  also  a  very  large  number  of  periodicals, 
weekly  and  monthly,  under  the  auspices  of  the  missions 
when  not  directly  edited  by  missionaries. 

Medical  missions  have  done  an  excellent  work,  though 
.there  has  not  been  the  necessity  for  them  that  exists  in 
China  and  Africa.  They  have,  however,  had  a  large 
share  in  the  opening  of  new  fields,  and  especially  in 
work  among  the  women.  The  female  physician  has  un- 
locked many  a  door  closed  to  all  others.  In  view  of  the 
present  wide  extent  of  the  work  it  is  difficult  to  realize  that 
the  first  medical  woman  missionary,  Clara  A.  Swain,  M.  D., 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  reached.  India  as 
late  as  1870.  One  line  of  medical  work  deserves  special 
mention,  that  for  lepers.  These  unfortunates  attracted 
the  sympathetic  attention  of  the  missionaries  at  an  early 
date,  and  several  asylums  were  established  by  different 
societies.  In  1874  a  Special  Mission  to  Lepers  in  India 
was  organized  in  England  by  Mr.  Wellesley  C.  Bailey, 
which  has  not  sent  missionaries  of  its  own,  but  has  as- 
sisted greatly  the  asylums  and  hospitals  already  in  exis- 
tence. 

Student  Work. — While  one  of  the  latest  departments 
to  be  organized,  this  has  developed  with  marvellous 
rapidity.  In  1889  the  first  secretary  of  the  Foreign 
Department  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  went  to  Madras.  He 
was  soon  followed  by  others,  and  when  eight  years  later 
a  tour  was  made  of  the  universities  and  colleges  of  India 
in  the  interest  of  the  World's  Student  Christian  Federa- 
tion, the  harvest  was  already  ripe.  The  intellectual  move- 
ment of  India  has  been  one  of  the  most  interesting  phases 
of  that  empire ;  universities  and  schools  of  every  kind  have 
been  crowded  with  the  25,000  students  in  the  200  colleges 


256  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

and  professional  schools  not  to  speak  of  the  scores  of 
thousands  in  the  high  schools.  Of  this  entire  number  it 
has  been  estimated  that  nine-tenths  are  untouched  by 
Christian  influences;  notwithstanding  this  as  an  indica- 
tion of  the  interest  of  students  in  Christianity,  in  one 
university  center  the  number  of  classes  for  the  study  of 
the  Bible  rose  from  three  to  forty,  and  the  enrollment 
from  forty  to  three  hundred.  Another  indication  is 
found  in  the  movement  for  a  National  Missionary  Society 
with  a  policy  of  Indian  men,  Indian  money  and  Indian 
management,  to  evangelize  the  unoccupied  fields  of  India, 
which  received  its  impulse  through  the  student  move- 
ment. 

Haskell  Lecture  Course. — At  the  Parliament  of 
Religions  in  Chicago,  there  were  no  more  notable  dele- 
gates than  those  from  India,  and  it  was  natural  that  when 
a  lecture  course  was  established  for  the  purpose  of  setting 
forth  Christianity  in  the  lands  there  represented,  India 
should  take  the  first  place.  The  lectures  delivered  by 
Dr.  J.  H.  Barrows,  Principal  Fairbairn  of  England  and 
President  Charles  Cuthbert  Hall,  of  New  York  City, 
have  attracted  no  little  attention  not  merely  in  mission 
lands  but  in  this  country.  The  purpose  was  to  reach 
the  higher  educated  classes,  whether  Hindu,  Moslem, 
Buddhist,  Parsee  or  others,  with  a  presentation  of  Chris- 
tianity from  the  standpoint  of  the  broadest  and  most 
liberal — not  necessarily  radical — view  of  the  religion  of 
Jesus.  The  first  effect  seems  to  have  been  chiefly  to 
arouse  curiosity  as  to  what  the  advocates  of  Christianity 
might  have  to  say  for  themselves,  and  a  calm  reassur- 
ance of  the  supremacy  of  the  ancient  faiths  of  India. 
There  has  come  to  be,  however,  a  clearer  vision  on  the 
part  of  the  classes  to  be  reached,  and  the  result,  especially 


India  257 

of  the  later  courses,  has  been  spoken  of  as  well  worth  the 
labour.  It  is,  however,  probable  that  one  of  the  most 
important  results  of  this  course,  has  been  its  influence 
upon  the  thought  and  life  of  the  churches  at  home,  in 
that  it  has  brought  about  a  far  more  sympathetic  attitude 
towards  the  religious  ideas  of  the  Oriental  world.  More 
and  more  as  those  ideas  are  studied,  is  it  becoming  ap- 
parent, that  just  as  the  varied  races  of  Europe  are  com- 
bining to  form  an  America,  far  different  from  the  old 
America  and  much  richer  in  its  varied  qualities,  so  the 
Oriental  concepts  not  only  may  but  will  add  much  to 
those  of  the  West,  and  that  the  resultant  will  be  a  far 
truer  and  more  .complete  Christianity  than  either  alone 
could  produce.  The  fear  that  this  sympathetic  attitude 
would  overlook  the  practical  degradation  of  the  Oriental 
religions  has  not  proved  well  founded.  Those  who 
have  been  most  nearly  in  touch  with  actual  conditions 
have  welcomed  the  contribution  of  the  best  Christian 
scholars  of  the  West  to  the  rising  Christian  thought  of 
the  East,  not  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  East,  but  because 
through  it  both  have  been  brought  nearer  together  and 
each  has  helped  the  other's  contribution  to  the  full  estab- 
lishment of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

The  Native  Church. — These  varied  methods,  some 
directly,  some  indirectly  yet  none  the  less  strongly,  have 
worked  together  for  the  building  up  of  a  native  church 
which,  self-supporting,  self-directing,  should  do  for  India 
what  no  company  of  missionaries,  however  numerous, 
able  or  devoted,  could  possibly  do.  As  has  been  said, 
India  is  a  country,  not  of  cities,  but  of  villages,  each 
with  its  own  distinct  life.  The  need  of  a  church  native 
to  the  soil  becomes  at  once  apparent.  It  is  a  notable 
tribute  to  the  wisdom  of  Carey  that  he  realized  this  need, 


258  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

and  those  who  have  followed  him  have  kept  it  ever  be- 
fore them.  The  progress  in  absolutely  independent  or- 
ganization, distinct  from  the  churches  at  home,  has  not 
been  as  marked  as  in  Japan,  or  in  China,  chiefly  because 
of  the  diverse  racial  and  lingual  characteristics.  Indeed 
the  whole  problem  of  national  life  and  action  is  very 
different ;  any  such  united  effort  as  has  been  witnessed  in 
some  other  lands  is  difficult.  There  remains  thus  the 
peculiar  state  of  affairs  by  which  Methodist  and  Presby- 
terian churches  are  subject  to  ecclesiastical  bodies  thou- 
sands of  miles  away.  The  connection,  indeed,  is  not 
very  close,  and  in  one  section  has  already  been  severed, 
and  the  conferences  and  synod  are  virtually  independent ; 
yet  so  long  as  the  link  holds,  the  sense  of  direct  respon- 
sibility which  has  been  such  a  power  in  Japan,  will  be 
lacking.  One  of  the  significant  facts  of  late  has  been 
the  visit  to  India  of  Japanese  pastors  seeking  to  stir  the 
churches  to  an  international  fellowship.  In  South  India 
the  progress  is  more  evident  in  this  respect  than  in  North 
India,  where  the  racial  and  religious  differences  are  more 
marked.  That  the  Church  is  a  power  in  the  empire, 
however,  is  witnessed  to  by  men  of  every  class  and  race  ; 
a  still  more  significant  proof  is  found  in  the  varied  efforts 
by  Hindus  and  Moslems  to  revive  the  power  of  their  own 
systems  by  absorbing  whatever  they  can  from  Christian- 
ity. Widely  varied  as  are  the  problems,  great  as  are  the 
difficulties,  the  advance  is  sure,  whether  on  the  very 
borders  of  Tibet  or  in  Ceylon. 


XVI 

SOUTHEASTERN  ASIA 

PUBLICITY  is  not"  always  the  best  test  of  values 
in  missions  any  more  than  in  other  departments 
of  life.  Political  questions,  social  crises,  often 
biing  certain  fields  into  prominence,  while  others  con- 
tinue their  work  with  very  little  of  exploitation.  The' 
unrest  in  India,  the  revolution  in  China,  the  transforma- 
tion in  Korea,  the  almost  meteoric  outburst  of  Japan,  the 
Cape  to  Cairo  railway  in  Africa,  the  perennial  Eastern 
Question  in  Turkey;  all  serve  to  attract  attention,  and 
focus  the  eye  of  the  missionary  as  well  as  the  political 
world  upon  those  lands.  For  many  years  past  there  has  \ 
been  little  of  public  quality  to  call  attention  to  the  group 
of  countries  comprising  Southeastern  Asia.  There  is 
first  Farther  India,  including  Assam  and  Burma,  extend- 
ing from  Tibet  to  the  Malay  Peninsula,  under  English 
rule,  as  a  part  of  the  Indian  Empire.  Then  comes  Siam, 
and  south  and  east  of  Siam  shutting  it  off  from  the 
China  Sea  as  Burma  shuts  it  off  from  the  Bay  of  Bengal 
are  the  French  colonies,  Cambodia,  Annam  and  Tong- 
king.  Whether  this  state  of  quiet  will  continue  is  uncer- 
tain, for  there  are  tokens  of  great  interest  in  the  French 
possessions  on  the  part  of  Japan.  The  people  too  are 
quiet  and  unobtrusive.  Buddhism  is  at  its  best  at  the 
court  of  Siam,  where  the  king  thinks  it  in  full  accord 
with  his  religion  to  cultivate  good  morals,  and  favour  those 
whose  unselfish  labours  for  his  people  he  appreciates. 
Burmans,  Karens,  the  Shan  tribes  and  the  uncouth  sav- 

259 


26o  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

ages  of  the  hill  country,  have  not  yet  learned  of  the 
blessings  of  national  independence,  and  are  content  to 
live  under  the  protection  of  far-away  England,  while  they 
listen  to  the  story  of  the  Cross,  and  build  their  churches 
on  the  foundations  laid  by  Judson  nearly  a  century  ago. 

Missions  in  these  fields  have  also  had  this  advantage 
that  they  have  been  almost  entirely  prosecuted  in  each 
country  by  a  single  society,  and  thus  have  had  a  unity 
which  is  not  often  possible  and  a  freedom  of  action  which 
gave  the  best  opportunities  for  development.  They  have 
also  been  in  some  respects  fortunate  in  their  field,  which 
has  not  presented  certain  of  the  disadvantages  met  with 
in  the  adjoining  countries,  India  and  China.  Buddhism 
in  itself  is  not  more  friendly  to  Christianity  than  is 
Hinduism,  but  the  absence  of  the  caste  system  weakens 
its  autocratic  power  over  those  races  whose  acceptance  of 
it  is  rather  formal  than  real,  and  leaves  the  missionaries 
less  hampered  in  their  efforts  to  reach  the  people.  It  is 
also  less  virulent  in  its  opposition,  and  while  Buddhist 
priests  are  bitter  in  their  hostility  to  a  system  that 
threatens  their  supremacy,  Buddhist  rulers  have  fre- 
quently shown  more  consideration.  The  terrible  cruelties 
of  Thibaw  and  some  of  his  predecessors  were  political 
rather  than  religious.  Another  advantage  has  been  the 
accessibility  of  races  like  the  Karens  of  Burma  and  the 
Laos  of  Siam,  offering  a  peculiarly  attractive  field  for  the 
missionary,  and  seemingly  very  open  to  gospel  influences. 
The  annexation  of  Burma  to  India  and  the  beneficent 
rule  of  the  King  of  Siam  have  also  been  very  positive 
factors  in  the  development  of  some  of  the  most  success- 
ful mission  enterprises  of  the  Church.  On  the  other 
hand  the  proverbial  hostility  of  France  has  practically 
closed   those  colonies  to  evangelistic  work  except  as  oc- 


Southeastern  Asia  261 

casional  Laos  preachers  cross  the  border  and  bring  to 
those  of  kindred  race  some  knowledge  of  a  freer  gospel 
tlian  the  priests  have  told. 

Missions  in  Burma. — These  had  their  origin  in  the 
work  of  Adouiraiii  Judson,  and  are  carried  on  chiefly  by 
the  American  Bapiisis.  The  Welsh  Presbyterians  have 
a  mission  in  Assam,  and  the  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
some  other  societies  have  stations  at  Rangoon  and 
its  vicinity ;  but  the  great  work,  whether  among  the 
Burmese,  Karens,  or  hill  tribes,  not  merely  of  Burma 
proper,  but  also  of  Arakan  and  Assam,  is  under  the  care 
of  the  Baptists.  Three  English  Baptists  and  two  repre- 
sentatives of  the  London  Missionary  Society  preceded 
Judson,  but  their  work  was  not  permanent,  and  his 
arrival  at  Rangoon  (1813)  was  really  the  commencement 
of  mission  work  in  that  country.  For  six  years  he  de-  1 
voted  himself  to  laying  foundations,  following  the  general 
principles  laid  down  by  Carey,  and  fitting  himself  to 
meet  the  Burmese  with  the  translated  Bible  and  a  clear 
understanding  of  their  own  beliefs  and  customs.  During 
this  time  he  was  unmolested,  although  he  kept  very  quiet, 
baptizing  his  first  convert  in  181 9.  The  same  year,  by 
the  death  of  the  emperor,  and  the  accession  of  a  man  of 
bitter  cruelty  and  tyrannous  in  the  extreme,  the  situation 
changed.  Repeated  attacks  on  Bengal  forced  the  war  of 
1824-26,  resulting  in  the  annexation  of  Arakan,  and  car- 
rying with  it  the  imprisonment  of  Judson  at  Ava  and 
Oung-pen-la,  and  the  breaking  up  of  the  station  at 
Rangoon.  In  1827  George  Dana  Boardman  commenced 
at  Tavoy  the  work  among  the  Karens,  and  from  that 
time  the  advance  was  rapid.  In  1835  the  mission  in 
Arakan  was  commenced,  but  the  very  unhealthful  climate 


262  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

prevented  its  prosecution,  except  for  the  few  years  during 
which  Sandoway  was  a  refuge  for  the  persecuted  Karens 
of  Bassein.  Of  late,  under  British  improvements,  it  has 
become  more  heaUhful,  and  has  been  reoccupied.  Then 
came  the  mission  in  Assam  (1836)  among  tlie  Hindu 
Assamese  and  Kols  (imported  from  India  for  work  in  the 
tea-gardens)  and  the  demon-  or  nature-worshipping  Garos 
and  other  hill  tribes.  The  Welsh  Presbyterians  (Calvin- 
istic  Methodists)  in  1845  commenced  a  work  in  western 
Assam,  the  Baptists  occupying  the  eastern  section.  A 
second  war  with  England,  resulting  in  the  cession  of 
Pegu,  including  Rangoon,  gave  another  impulse  to  the 
work,  which  also  extended  north,  though,  under  a  suc- 
cession of  despotic  emperors,  with  less  success,  until  the 
final  overthrow  of  Thibaw  in  1885  brought  the  whole 
country  under  British  rule,  and  since  then  progress  has 
been  limited  only  by  the  means  of  the  society. 

Nature  of  the  Work. — The  character  of  the  people 
has  necessitated  a  double  form  of  work.  In  the  efforts 
to  reach  the  Burmese  and  the  Buddhist  Shans  and  others, 
the  same  general  methods  have  been  adopted  as  in  India 
for  the  Hindus,  and  with  good  success.  Schools  have 
been  established,  and  at  Rangoon  the  Baptists  and  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  have  each  a 
flourishing  college.  Churches  also,  with  good  member- 
ship, have  been  organized,  and  the  results  have  shown 
that  Buddhism  can  be  overcome  by  Christianity.  The 
distinguishing  feature  of  mission  work  in  Burma  is  the 
phenomenal  success  of  the  labours  among  the  Karens,  or 
peasant  class.  They  are  held  to  be  of  Mongolian  origin, 
who  have  come  over  in  three  great  migrations,  and  now 
as  three  different  tribes  or  clans,  differing  in  language 
and  customs,  occupy  the  hill-country  of  northern  and  the 


Southeastern  Asia  263 

plains  of  southern  Burma.  They  have  never  given  up 
their  nature-  or  demon-worship,  but  have  many  traditions 
of  spiritual  religion  and  conceptions  of  an  Eternal  Being 
and  a  Redeemer.  From  the  very  first  they  welcomed 
the  teaching  of  the  missionaries,  and,  notwithstanding 
the  bitter  persecution  of  the  Burmese,  flocked  in  crowds 
to  the  missionaries  for  baptism.  In  1840,  when  the  hos- 
tility was  so  strong  that  the  mission  station  at  Bassein  was 
broken  up,  the  missionaries  established  themselves  at 
Sandoway  in  Arakan,  and  sought  from  there  to  guide  and 
help  the  persecuted  communities.  The  Karens  followed 
them,  and  although  the  Burmese  placed  guards  on  the 
mountains,  to  arrest  any  who  sought  to  pass,  several 
thousands  did  get  through  and  established  Christian 
Karen  churches  in  Arakan.  The  growth,  too,  has  been 
steady,  and  the  Karen  with  the  Telugu  churches  have 
given  the  Baptist  missions  a  preeminence  in  mission 
statistics  for  which  they  may  well  be  grateful.  Not  less 
important  than  the  size  of  the  communities  is  their  char- 
acter. In  no  field  in  the  world  is  there  a  better  record 
in  regard  to  the  self-support  of  the  native  churches. 
From  the  very  beginning  this  subject  has  been  pressed, 
and,  assisted  to  a  considerable  degree  by  the  conditions, 
in  which  the  size  of  the  churches  is  an  important  element, 
the  foundations  of  a  permanent,  self-propagating  Chris- 
tian community  have  been  well  laid. 

The  Hill  Tribes. — North  of  Burma,  extending  to  the 
very  borders  of  Tibet,  is  what  is  known  as  the  Hill  Coun- 
try of  Assam.  It  seems  to  have  been  the  gathering  place 
of  the  various  tribes  forced  into  the  mountains  by  the  ad- 
vance of  the  stronger  governments  around.  It  is  a 
strange  mixture  of  races  and  languages,  thirty  different 
languages   being   given   by   the  census   of   1901  as  the 


264  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

vernaculars  of  a  single  station.  Rough  in  the  extreme 
in  their  manners,  so  fierce  that  the  highest  government 
officer  of  the  region  described  one  tribe,  the  Garos,  as 
•'a  most  desperate  and  incorrigible  tribe  of  bloodthirsty 
savages,"  and  the  missionaries  were  greeted  in  the 
heathen  homes  by  strings  of  human  skulls  brought  from 
the  plains  as  trophies ;  yet  when  the  British  entered  to 
protect  their  subjects,  the  tribe  was  conquered  without 
the  loss  of  a  single  life.  These  rough  mountaineers  live 
in  mortal  terror  of  demons,  and  the  Nat-worship  has 
reigned  supreme  until  the  missionaries,  first  of  the 
American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  then  of  the  Welsh 
Calvinistic  Methodists,  went  among  them.  The  stories  of 
revivals  and  the  growth  of  Christian  communities  have 
been  thrilling  and  recently  in  the  Khasia  Hills  there  have 
been  scenes  recalling  the  events  in  Wales.  Another 
class  for  whom  much  has  been  done  and  more  should  be 
done  are  the  coolies  who  came  from  Bengal  to  work  in 
the  tea-gardens. 

It  is  not  only  for  itself,  however,  that  Assam  makes  an 
important  mission  field.  It  is  in  a  sense  the  doorway  to 
some  of  the  most  inaccessible  regions  of  Central  Asia.  It 
is  in  constant  communication  with  Western  China  and 
Tibet,  and  those  who  receive  the  gospel  there  carry  it  to 
peoples  as  yet  outside  the  reach  of  missionary  effort. 

Missions  in  Siam. — Attention  was  first  drawn  to 
Siam  as  a  possible  door  to  China.  Bangkok  was  promi- 
nent in  Chinese  trade,  and  Giitzlaff,  of  the  Netherlands 
Missionary  Society,  stationed  at  Singapore,  visited  it 
with  a  representative  of  the  London  Society  in  1828  with 
that  in  view.  As  a  result  they  sent  an  earnest  appeal 
to  America  to  occupy  the  country.  In  response  the  Rev. 
David  Abeel,  of  the  American  Board's  mission  at  Can- 


Southeastern  Asia  265 

ton,  went  to  Bangkok  and  joined  them  in  preparatory 
work.  All  these  were,  however,  obliged  to  leave  by 
1832.  The  next  year  the  American  Baptist  Missionary 
Union  opened  work  chiefly  for  the  Chinese,  though  some 
attention  was  paid  to  the  Siamese.  Neither,  however, 
has  been  pushed  very  much.  The  American  Board  sent 
two  more  missionaries  in  1834,  who  were  joined  the  next 
year  by  Dr.  Daniel  B.  Bradley  and  the  Rev.  Jesse 
Caswell.  As  work  in  China  developed,  the  missionaries 
engaged  in  that  department  left,  and  the  American 
Board's  Siamese  mission  was  closed  in  1849.  Just  before 
that,  after  one  or  two  experiments,  the  Presbyterian 
Board  commenced  permanent  work,  which  has  been 
considerably  enlarged  so  as  to  cover  not  only  the 
southern  part  of  the  kingdom,  but  also  the  northern, 
where  the  Laos  form  the  greater  part  of  the  population. 

Relation  to  the  Government. — One  of  the  distinct- 
ive features  of  mission  work  in  Siam  has  been  the  very 
cordial  relations  between  the  missionaries  and  the  gov- 
ernment. This  was  partly  due  to  Dr.  Bradley,  whose 
medical  skill  made  a  great  impression  on  the  people,  and 
whose  thorough  knowledge  of  the  language  brought  him 
into  constant  contact  with  the  officials.  Still  more,  how- 
ever, was  accomplished  by  Mr.  Caswell  who,  while  the 
heir  to  the  throne  was  being  trained  as  a  Buddhist  priest, 
made  his  acquaintance,  won  his  confidence,  became  his 
tutor,  and  acquired  an  influence  over  him  which,  on  his 
ascent  of  the  throne  in  185 1,  modified  his  whole  bearing, 
not  merely  towards  the  missionaries,  but  towards  all 
foreigners.  While  his  predecessor,  a  usurper,  had  been 
very  harsh,  he  was  always  courteous,  sought  to  come 
into  friendly  relations  with  foreign  governments,  and  to 
introduce   foreign  civilization.     The    missionaries  were 


266  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

welcome  in  the  palace.  Several  of  the  women  were  in- 
vited to  teach  the  women  of  the  royal  household,  and  a 
Christian  Englishwoman  was  employed  as  governess, 
among  her  pupils  being  the  present  king  who  holds  a 
unique  position  among  Oriental  monarchs  for  his  genuine 
regard  for  the  welfare  of  his  people.  Interested  in  all 
improvements,  he  has  recently  signalized  his  anxiety 
for  their  best  good  by  an  edict  against  gambling.  That 
a  Buddhist  king,  who  makes  no  pretensions  to  special 
interest  in  Christianity  should  take  the  course  he  has,  is 
undoubtedly  due  to  the  influence  of  those  who  were  so 
intimate  with  him  in  his  boyhood.  It  is  but  another  in- 
stancelike that  of  Drs.  Verbeck  and  Brown  in  Japan,  and 
of  the  early  missionaries  in  Korea.  Not  less  notable  has 
been  the  influence  of  the  veteran  Dr.  Dunlap,  as  he  has 
sailed  along  the  coast,  rivalling  John  Williams  in  his 
itinerating  by  water. 

The  efl'ect  of  the  favour  of  the  government  was  to  give 
the  missionaries  free  course  in  their  work.  Missionaries 
were  placed  in  charge  of  royal  hospitals,  appointed  to 
official  positions,  and  in  many  ways  were  assured  of  the 
high  esteem  in  which  they  were  held.  There  was  no 
hindrance,  and  yet  the  work  for  the  Siamese  did  not 
grow  or  show  much  success.  This  was  due  chiefly  to 
the  hold  of  Buddhism  upon  the  people,  illustrated  by  the 
fact  that  the  majority  of  the  men  spend  at  least  a  few 
years  in  the  priesthood,  and  there  is  scarcely  a  family 
which  is  not  permanently  represented  in  it.  It  is  prob- 
able also  that  the  very  enervating  climate  has  had  a  con- 
siderable influence.  Of  later  years  there  has  been  a 
marked  change  and  the  reports  show  a  decided  advance 
in  every  respect,  manifest  in  the  practical  attainment  of 
self-support  on  the  part  of  the  churches  and  a  great  in- 


Southeastern  Asia  267 

crease  of  interest  in  them  in  regard  to  extending  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth,  both  among  their  own  people 
and  in  new  fields. 

The  Laos. — The  great  mission  work  in  Siam,  how- 
ever, is  in  the  Laos  country,  to  the  north.  The  Laos 
are  akin  to  the  Siamese,  both  belonging  to  the  great 
Shan  family,  but  are  superior  to  the  southern  race,  both 
in  character  and  in  physical  nature.  They  are  Buddhists, 
at  least  in  name,  but  are  much  under  the  influence  of  the 
demon-worship  which  is  so  prevalent  and  so  strong 
through  Southeastern  Asia.  Attention  was  first  drawn  to 
them  by  the  presence,  near  one  of  the  stations  of  the 
Siam  mission,  of-  a  colony  of  Laos  who  had  put  them- 
selves under  the  protection  of  the  King  of  Siam  in  order 
to  escape  the  tyranny  of  their  own  tributary  chief.  In 
1863  an  exploring  tour  was  made  to  Chieng  Mai,  the 
capital  of  the  most  powerful  Laos  province,  and  four 
years  later  a  station  was  opened  there.  Success  followed 
the  efforts  of  the  missionaries  quite  speedily,  and  it  was 
evident  that  they  were  acquiring  a  strong  hold  on  the 
people.  This  aroused  the  anger  of  the  king  of  the  prov- 
ince, and  he  sought  to  secure  the  recall  of  the  mis- 
sionaries to  Bangkok.  Failing  in  this,  he  commenced 
torturing  the  converts,  but,  before  he  could  carry  it  very 
far,  was  called  to  Bangkok  on  state  business  and  died 
there.  A  proclaraalion  jf  religious  liberty  for  the  people 
by  the  King  of  Siam  put  an  end  to  the  trouble,  and  since 
then  the  work  has  advanced  very  rapidly.  Every  de- 
partment of  missionary  work  has  been  developed,  in  a 
normal  way,  so  that  the  type  of  Christian  community  is 
thoroughly  healthy.  Indeed  some  of  the  difficulties 
usually  considered  inevitable  in  mission  growth  have 
been  conspicuous  by  their  absence. 


268  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

A  political  event  which  seemed  at  first  to  promise  dis- 
aster has  resulted  in  good.  The  traditional  greed  of 
European  powers  has  been  felt  by  Siam,  the  latest  mani- 
festation being  the  war  with  France,  by  which  the 
frontier  was  rectified  so  as  to  bring  a  considerable  section 
of  the  Laos  country  within  the  borders  of  Annam.  As 
missionaries  are  not  allowed  to  cross  the  border,  there  was 
some  anxiety  lest  the  as  yet  feeble  churches  there  would 
suffer.  The  older  churches  however  rose  to  the  need, 
and  native  evangelists  offered  their  services,  with  the  re- 
sult that  there  has  arisen  a  strong  missionary  movement 
which  may  be  the  means  of  reaching  the  French  colonies. 

Already  there  are  signs  of  ferment  in  that  region. 
Japan  is  getting  hold  of  the  trade  of  Tongking  and  Annam, 
and  on  the  pretense  that  the  native  labourers  are  unreli- 
able is  pouring  her  own  people  in  in  crowds.  Should  a 
pretext  arise,  the  French  fear  a  sudden  descent  from  the 
new  Empire  of  the  East,  and  one  against  which  they 
could  make  little  headway.  The  map  of  Eastern  Asia  is 
by  no  means  definitely  drawn,  and  the  Christian  churches 
of  the  Shan  states  may  well  be  a  most  important  factor 
in  the  future  of  that  whole  section  of  Asia. 

Malaysia. — The  Malay  Peninsula  and  Archipelago 
form  the  connecting  link  between  Asia  and  Oceania,  and 
have  been  the  scene  of  rival  religious  propaganda  since 
the  thirteenth  century.  Originally  Animists,  a  Tartar  in- 
vasion (1259-94)  was  followed  by  Mohammedans  pour- 
ing down  through  the  peninsula  and  spreading  over  the 
entire  archipelago;  these  were  in  turn  followed  by  the 
Hindus,  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  brought  by  the 
Portuguese,  and  finally  the  Dutch  appeared  (1605)  with 
Protestantism.  The  result  was  a  curious  religious  con- 
glomerate.    The  Dutch  East  India  Company  was  com- 


Southeastern  Asia  269 

mitted  by  its  charter  to  carry  the  Reformed  Faith  to  the 
heathen,  but  naturally  this  was  with  them  a  secondary 
consideration,  and  little  missionary  zeal  was  shown  by  the 
ministers  who  accompanied  them.  Yet  some  good  was 
done ;  the  Bible  was  translated  and  published  in  Malay 
a^nd  Cingalese,  heathen  temples  were  closed,  the  Roman 
Catholic  churches  used  for  Protestant  services,  and  both 
Buddhist  and  Roman  Catholic  services  were  prohibited. 
To  be  baptized  was  the  open  sesame  to  government 
favour,  and  as  the  conditions  for  church-membership 
were  merely  the  learning  of  the  Ten  Commandments  and 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  praying  twice  a  day  and  saying  grace 
before  and  after  meals,  the  people  flocked  into  the  church 
by  hundreds  and  then  by  thousands.  At  the  opening  of 
the  seventeenth  century  100,000  of  these  *•  Christians  " 
were  reported  in  Java  alone,  and  in  like  proportion  in  the 
other  islands. 

The  mingling  of  races  and  languages  and  dialects  is 
remarkable.  The  inhabitants  run  the  gamut  of  human- 
ity, from  the  aboriginal  Sakai  and  Senangs  on  the  penin- 
sula, the  Bataks  of  Sumatra  and  the  Dyaks  of  Borneo  and 
kindred  wild  folk,  to  the  Cantonese,  Hakkas,  Swatow, 
Hinghua  and  Foochow  Chinese,  the  Tamils,  Telugus 
and  Canarese  of  the  Indian  races,  Arabs  and  Eurasians, 
and  a  goodly  number  of  Europeans  and  Americans. 
More  or  less  work  is  carried  on  for  them  all,  though  much 
difficulty  is  experienced  from  the  variety  of  languages  and 
dialects.  In  Singapore  alone  a  hundred  languages  are  j 
said  to  be  spoken,  and  fifty  more  in  other  parts  of  the 
peninsula ;  English  and  Malay  are  the  most  universally 
used,  the  latter  being  the  litigua  franca  of  the  archipel- 
ago. In  the  Anglican  services  in  Singapore  this  polyglot 
difficulty  is  met  by  *^  having  the  prayers  in  one  dialect,  the 


270  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Scriptures  in  two  others,  the  sermon  in  one  Chinese 
dialect  interpreted  into  another  by  a  catechist." 

The  Peninsula. — The  Straits  Settlements  early  be- 
came the  anteroom  of  China,  where  Messrs.  Milne  and 
Med  hurst  (1813-22),  and  later  Dr.  Legge  (1840) 
worked  among  the  Chinese  population  while  awaiting  an 
open  door  to  the  empire.  They  learned  the  language, 
prepared  a  literature,  founded  schools,  and  the  Anglo- 
Chinese  College  was  established  at  Malacca.  Gradually 
their  work  extended  to  Singapore  and  Penang,  and  to 
Java  and  Amboyna,  wherever  they  could  get  a  footing. 
With  the  opening  of  China  this  work  of  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society  was  transferred  to  that  country  and  later 
the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  occupied  the 
peninsula  (1856),  followed  by  the  Plymouth  Brethren 
(1866),  the  English  Presbyterians  (1875),  the  American 
Methodist  Episcopal  Society  (1884),  and  the  Church 
of  England  Zenana  Society  (1900).  The  work  of  these 
organizations  is  greatly  helped  by  the  agents  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  who  distribute  Bibles 
and  Christian  literature  in  Chinese,  Javanese,  Malay  and 
Tamil. 

Much  of  the  work  in  the  Straits  Settlements  and  Malay 
states  is  self-supporting,  that  is  by  local  contributions 
apart  from  outside  aid,  and  grants-in-aid  of  the  schools 
are  made  by  the  British  government.  A  high  grade  is 
maintained,  and  the  educational  work,  always  carried  on 
with  marked  evangelism,  is  developing  a  higher  character 
in  the  people,  especially  among  the  Chinese,  who  are 
gaining  the  ascendency  over  the  indolent  Malays.  In  the 
Anglo-Chinese  College  established  at  Singapore  by  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Mission  there  is  an  enrollment  of 
over  a  thousand  students. 


Southeastern  Asia  271 

The  recent  discovery  in  the  jungle  of  a  leaf  which 
seems  to  cure  the  opium  habit,  has  added  greatly  to  the 
opportunities  for  evangelistic  work.  An  Anti-Opium 
Society  was  formed  (1907),  and  with  the  assistance  of 
the  Chinese  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  depots  were  opened  for  the 
distribution  of  the  remedy,  and  the  people  came  first  by 
hundreds,  and  then  by  thousands  for  it,  and  to  them  all 
the  gospel  was  preached  ;  they  came  from  all  parts  of  the 
islands  as  well  as  the  peninsula,  and  hundreds  have  been 
cured.  That  the  government  sales  of  opium  dropped 
thirty  cases,  or  nearly  ;^45,ooo  in  one  month,  seems  to 
prove  the  effectiveness  of  the  remedy. 

In  spite  of  the  good  work  done  on  the  peninsula  by  the 
English  and  American  missions,  and  the  gratifying  re- 
sults, they  are  hampered  by  an  inadequate  force  of 
workers  and  lack  of  means.  On  the  west  coast  there  is 
about  one  missionary  in  every  3,000  square  miles ;  no 
station  has  been  established  in  the  large  sultanates  of 
Trengganu,  Kelantan  and  Pahang,  and  but  two  stations 
in  Siamese  Malaysia,  while  Islam  is  steadily  increasing 
among  the  native  races. 

The  Archipelago. — While  the  type  of  Christianity 
introduced  by  the  ministers  of  the  Dutch  East  India 
Company  was  of  a  low  order,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
early  missionaries  sent  out  by  the  Netherlands  Missionary 
Society  (181 2),  especially  Messrs.  Kam,  Le  Bruijn,  Bar 
and  Roskott,  labotired  faithfully  and  built  well  on  the 
foundations  they  had  laid,  working  among  the  degenerate 
Christians  who  were  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from 
their  heathen  neighbours.  The  Dutch  Colonial  govern- 
ment gradually  became  so  interested  that  it  became  re- 
sponsible for  the  larger  part  of  the  work  among  them,  and 
the  great  majority  of  the  descendants  of  the  early  Chris- 


272  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

tians  are  under  the  care  of  colonial  pastors  ;  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  nineteenth  century  they  numbered  not  far 
from  a  hundred  thousand. 

While  the  Netherlands  Society  was  the  first  in  the  field, 
it  was  soon  followed  by  the  other  Dutch  Societies ;  for  a 
long  time  the  Colonial  government  was  antagonistic  to 
the  Dutch  workers  and  made  it  almost  impossible  for  any 
others  to  enter  the  field.  With  changes  in  the  official 
staff,  however,  the  opposition  ceased,  and  the  German 
Rhenish  and  Neukirchen  Societies  entered  the  Dutch 
Indies,  while  British  Borneo  was  occupied  by  the  Propa- 
gation Society.  The  greatest  success  has  been  won  by 
the  Netherlands  Society  in  the  Minahassa  District  of 
Celebes,  which  is  entirely  Christian,  while  the  Rhenish 
Society  has  had  marvellous  success  among  the  wild  Bataks 
of  Sumatra.  The  American  Board  attempted  to  establish 
work  among  them  (1834),  but  their  missionaries,  Messrs. 
Lyman  and  Monson,  were  murdered  and  the  project 
abandoned.  The  Rhenish  Society  made  anotlier  attempt 
(1862)  after  Pastor  Witteveen  of  Ermelo  had  sent  mis- 
sionaries to  them,  and  a  Dutch  linguist  had  given  them 
the  Gospel  of  St.  John.  After  years  of  trial  and  danger 
and  no  little  hardship,  the  old  heathenism  began  to  give 
way.  Churches  and  schools  multiplied,  and  a  Christian 
civilization  is  gradually  gaining  ground.  South  of 
Silendung  as  far  as  Angkola  Sipirok,  and  the  Moham- 
medan Padang  Bolak,  the  greatest  obstacle  is  Islam,  but 
even  here  the  light  is  breaking.  In  the  north  many  of 
the  stations  have  reached  a  high  state  of  development. 
Already  the  Bataks  are  erecting  their  own  churches  and 
school  buildings,  and  to  a  considerable  extent  are  sup- 
porting their  native  pastors  and  teachers.  Two  Dutch 
Societies  and  the  Java  Committee  have  a  small  work  on 


Southeastern  Asia  273 

the  east  coast  of  Sumatra,  which  is  fairly  successful,  as 
is  also  the  work  of  the  Rhenish  Society  of  the  neighbour- 
ing island  of  Nias  among  a  tribe  allied  to  the  Bataks. 

In  Java  the  work  has  been  much  hindered  by  the 
favour  shown  the  Mohammedans  by  the  Dutch  govern- 
ment. The  six  Dutch  and  the  Neukirchen  Societies  are 
working  among  the  Javanese,  Sundanese  and  Madurese, 
as  well  as  among  the  Chinese  and  Arabs,  and  conducting 
services  for  the  Europeans.  Together  they  have  about 
four  thousand  Christian  communities,  the  most  flourish- 
ing being  at  Mojowarno,  where  work  was  begun  by 
Jellesma  (1851).  A  training  school  and  seminary  has 
been  established  at  Depok  near  Batavia,  to  which  students 
come  from  all  parts  of  the  archipelago.  In  Dutch  Borneo 
the  Rhenish  Society  began  a  work  among  the  headhunt- 
ing Dyaks  (1835)  and  was  beginning  to  have  some  degree 
of  success  when  in  a  revolt  of  the  Mohammedan  Malays 
against  the  Dutch  government  the  Dyaks  became  in- 
volved (1859),  and  all  the  inland  stations  were  destroyed 
and  seven  missionaries  lost  their  lives.  It  was  seven 
years  before  the  work  was  again  taken  up  (1866)  and  it 
has  had  but  slow  growth.  In  North,  or  British  Borneo, 
an  Englishman,  called  by  the  natives  *' Rajah  "  Brookes, 
became  interested  in  their  welfare,  and  formed  a  com- 
mittee for  work  among  them  (1846)  largely  at  his  own 
expense,  which  was  tal-en  over  by  the  Propagation  So- 
ciety (1848)  and  has  gradually  extended  to  Labuan  and 
the  sultanates  of  Brunei  and  Sulu.  The  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Society  extended  its  work  from  the  peninsula  (1896) 
to  North  and  West  Borneo,  as  the  Malaysia  Conference. 

In  the  Celebes,  the  oldest  mission  field  in  the  archi- 
pelago, the  greatest  advance  has  been  made.  The  work 
of  the  Dutch  societies  has  largely  passed  into  the  hands 


274  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

of  the  Colonial  State  Church,  while  in  the  Minahassa 
District  the  native  church  has  nearly  150,000  members. 
The  rest  of  the  island  is  largely  Mohammedan,  yet  every- 
where the  pervasive  influence  of  Christianity  is  manifest. 
Success  has  also  crowned  the  work  on  the  Sangi  and 
Talaut  Islands  begun  by  Dutch  and  Gossner  missionaries 
among  the  semi-Christian  remnant  resulting  from  the 
early  missions,  while  the  present  work  is  in  the  care  of  a 
committee  at  Batavia.  In  the  Moluccas  the  work  of  the 
Netherlands  Society  so  prospered  that  it  was  turned  over 
to  the  Colonial  State  Church  (1865),  while  Buru  and 
Almaheira,  the  field  of  the  Utrecht  Missionary  Union, 
are  practically  Christian.  In  the  Lesser  Suuda  Islands 
the  harvest  of  modern  missions  has  been  reaped  from  the 
sowing  of  the  early  years,  and  with  the  exception  of  Sawu 
and  Sumba  which  the  Dutch  Societies  still  occupy,  the 
work  is  under  the  Colonial  Church. 

As  in  the  peninsula  so  in  the  archipelago  :  the  force  of 
workers  is  inadequate  to  meet  the  opportunities,  and 
where  Christians  fail  to  enter,  the  followers  of  Islam 
hasten.  The  Christians  in  the  care  of  the  Colonial 
Church  are  numerically  strong,  but  need  upbuilding  in 
the  faith,  while  among  the  heathen,  the  limitations  are  of 
men  and  means ;  the  open  doors  are  many  and  the  calls 
urgent.  Of  the  37,000,000  peoples  and  tribes  and 
tongues  that  make  up  the  conglomerate  population  of 
Malaysia,  the  total  number  of  Christians  approximate 
374,000  after  three  long  centuries  of  Christian  rule. 


XVII 
CHINA 

Tr"^ROM  time  immemorial  there  has  been  a  peculiar 
1-^  fascination  for  the  Western  world  in  the  Far 
M  East.  Cathay  has  been  the  synonym  for  every- 
thing that  was  rich  and  gorgeous,  with  an  element  of  the 
mystical  or  mythical  about  it.  The  Hebrew  prophet's 
vision  of  those  who  should  come  from  the  land  of  Sinim 
was  doubtless  colored  by  the  reports  of  those  who  had 
brought  to  Solomon  the  fruits  and  riches  of  a  land  that 
came  to  be  known  as  "  The  Flowery  Kingdom." 

In  this  feeling  the  Christian  Church  has  always  shared, 
and  each  missionary  epoch  has  had  its  own  effort  to 
evangelize  China.  First  went  the  Nestorians  who  alone 
of  the  Eastern  Church  retained  the  vigour  of  missionary 
extension.  Their  work  seems  to  have  reached  its  height 
in  the  eighth  century,  the  tablet  at  Singanfu  bearing 
date  of  781. 

From  that  time  they  diminished  in  strength  and 
gradually  disappeared,  although  there  seems  to  have  been 
some  of  their  converts  at  the  time  of  the  second  attempt 
by  John  de  Monte  Corvino.  His  mission  was  the  direct 
result  of  the  travels  of  Marco  Polo,  and  coincided  with 
the  close  of  the  Mongol  rule.  The  advent  of  the  Ming 
dynasty  (1341)  put  an  end  to  the  mission.  The  next 
attempt  was  that  of  the  Jesuits,  following  close  upon  the 
work  of  Xavier.  After  some  failures,  they  established 
themselves  in  Canton  in  1582,  won  considerable  favour, 

275 


276  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

and  on  the  accession  of  the  Manchu  dynasty,  in  1644, 
advanced  rapidly.  Their  scientific  attainments  gave 
them  prestige  in  Peking,  and  they  had  converts  from  all 
classes,  churches  were  built,  large  Christian  communities 
were  established,  and  a  considerable  success  seemed  as- 
sured. Then  arose  a  discussion  as  to  the  relation  to  be 
held  towards  Confucianism.  The  Jesuits  let  it  alone,  as 
not  interfering  with  the  profession  of  Christian  faith. 
The  Dominicans  and  Franciscans,  smarting  perhaps  un- 
der their  comparative  failure,  claimed  that  it  should  be 
unsparingly  condemned.  At  Rome  the  popes  declared 
the  Confucian  rites  idolatrous  ;  the  emperors  retorted  by 
forbidding  any  but  the  Jesuits  to  teach  ;  and  at  last  all 
Christianity  was  forbidden,  the  missionaries  were  ban- 
ished, and  their  converts  sent  into  exile  (1724).  The 
execution  of  the  edict  was  not,  however,  carried  out  with 
any  uniformity,  and  when,  after  a  century,  missionaries 
again  gained  access  to  the  empire,  numerous  communi- 
ties were  found  true  to  the  Christian  name. 

Robert  Morrison. — The  pioneer  of  Protestant  mis- 
sions was  Robert  Morrison,  who  at  the  age  of  twenty-two, 
offered  himself  for  foreign  service  to  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society,  and  on  learning  that  he  was  to  be  sent 
to  China,  spoke  of  the  result  as  an  answer  to  his  prayer 
"  that  God  would  station  him  in  that  part  of  the  missionary 
field  where  the  difficulties  were  the  greatest,  and  to  all 
human  appearance  the  most  insurmountable."  While 
looked  upon  in  his  boyhood  as  dull,  his  wonderful  power 
or  genius  for  hard  work  gave  him  even  before  he  left 
England  not  merely  an  education  but  a  considerable 
knowledge  of  the  Chinese  language.  He  found  a  Chinese 
classical  manuscript  in  the  British  Museum,  and  set  about 
the  study  of  the  language  at  once,  under  a  native  teacher. 


China 


277 


At  that  time  the  empire  was  practically  closed  to  for- 
eigners, although  the  Portuguese  since  1557  had  held 
possession  of  Macao,  on  a  delta  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Si-kiang,  or  West  River,  and  the  harbour  of  Canton. 
They  had  been  followed  by  the  East  India  Company, 
and  some  American  merchants  had  establishments  at 
Canton.  All,  however,  were  on  sufferance,  and  subject 
to  the  most  unjust  and  arbitrary  treatment  at  the  hands 
of  the  mandarins.  Morrison  applied  to  the  East  India 
Company  for  passage  to  Hongkong,  but  was  refused,  on 
the  same  general  grounds  as  those  taken  in  regard  to 
Carey.  An  American  firm,  Olyphant  &  Co.,  of  New 
York,  was  more- favourable,  and  on  September-  7,  1807, 
Morrison  reached  China  by  way  of  America.  Dwelling 
in  Canton  at  first  in  an  American  and  afterwards  in  a 
French  warehouse,  and  dressing  in  Chinese  garb  to  avoid 
notice,  he  pressed  the  study  of  the  language,  although  liis 
teacher  carried  poison  in  his  pocket  to  anticipate  the  offi- 
cers should  he  be  caught  violating  the  stringent  orders 
against  instructing  foreigners.  The  difficulties,  however, 
proved  so  great  that  after  a  time  he  removed  to  Macao. 
In  1809,  on  his  marriage  to  the  daughter  of  an  English 
merchant,  he  received  an  appointment  as  translator  to 
the  East  India  Company  which  made  him  independent 
in  support,  secured  him  a  residence  in  Canton,  large  op- 
portunity to  meet  the  people,  and  considerable  time  for 
the  prosecution  of  missionary  work,  especially  in  the 
preparation  of  a  translation  of  the  Bible,  a  Chinese  dic- 
tionary, and  other  books. 

The  Missionary  Problem. — The  problem  of  mis- 
sions confronting  the  pioneers  was  very  different  from 
that  in  any  other  field.  The  Chinese  had  three  religions, 
and  no  religion,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  term  could  be 


2/8  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

used  in  almost  any  other  land.  The  Brahman,  Moslem, 
Buddhist,  was  consistent  in  his  acceptance  of  a  creed,  or 
at  least  a  system.  The  Chinese  was  either  Confucianist, 
V  Buddhist,  or  Taoist,  as  he  happened  to  choose,  or  even 
\  all  three  at  the  same  time.  He  was,  however,  pre- 
dominantly always  a  Confucianist,  and  Confucianism  is 
scarcely  to  be  called  a  religion.  There  was  a  sense  of 
Deity,  but  no  agreement  as  to  what  it  involved  or  what 
its  essential  characteristics  were.  There  was  a  state  re- 
ligion, including  the  cultus  of  ancestors,  of  heaven  and 
nature,  polytheistic,  pantheistic,  and  atheistic  all  at  the 
same  time.  Under  such  circumstances  it  was  difficult  to 
find  common  ground  for  the  missionary  and  the  Chinese. 
The  absence  of  caste,  the  competitive  examinations  on 
which  the  mandarin  system  depended,  and  above  all  the 
patriarchal  system  of  the  clan,  closely  identified  with  the 
ancestor  worship  and  culminating  in  a  despotic  govern- 
ment combined  to  hold  them  in  a  unity  very  different 
from  the  divisions,  jealousies  and  fears  of  India.  There 
was  too  the  intense  conservatism  which  characterized  the 
people  to  such  a  degree  that  although  twice  overpowered 
and  for  long  periods  governed  by  other  races,  the 
JNIongols  and  Manchus,  they  assimilated  or  absorbed 
their  conquerors,  made  them  Chinese,  and  finally,  in  the 
first  instance  at  least  displaced  them,  while  many  consider 
that  the  days  of  the  present  Manchu  rule  are  numbered, 
as  the  queen  herself  is  seeking  to  sink  all  differences  be- 
tween them.  When  to  these  is  added  the  lack  of  moral 
sense,  resulting  in  mutual  suspicion,  and  particularly  in 
distrust  of  everything  non-Chinese,  it  is  little  wonder 
that  to  the  Christian  world  it  seemed  an  absolutely  blank, 
impassable  wall.  Xavier,  dying  at  Macao,  after  his  ex- 
perience  in   India  and  Japan,   felt  the  burden  on  his 


China  279 

soul,  and  cried  out,  "Oh,  rock,  rock,  when  wilt  thou 
open  ?  ' ' 

The  sturdy,  indomitable  Scotchman,  holding  fast  to 
his  Calvinistic  training  and  his  absolute  faith  in  God, 
answered  the  ship's  captain  when  asked  with  a  sneer 
whether  he  expected  "  to  make  any  impression  on  the 
idolatry  of  the  Chinese  empire  "  :  "No  sir,  I  expect  God 
will." 

For  over  twenty  years  Morrison  worked  practically 
alone,  for  Milne  who  joined  him  in  18 13,  and  Medhurst, 
1816,  removed  to  Batavia  and  Malacca,  where  they  felt 
that  they  could  on  the  whole  accomphsh  more.  In  1821, 
Milne  founded  at  Malacca  the  Anglo-Chinese  college  and 
on  the  printing-press  soon  established  in  connection 
with  it,  was  printed  the  first  Christian  newspaper  in 
Chinese. 

American  Missionaries. — It  was  not  until  18 14  that 
Morrison  baptized  his  first  convert,  and  in  the  first 
twenty-five  years  but  ten  were  baptized,  one  of  these 
being  the  well-known  Liang  Ah-fa,  whose  tract,  "  Good 
Words  to  Admonish  the  Age,"  brought  the  leader  of  the 
Taiping  Rebellion  into  contact  with  Christianity.  In 
1829  E.  C.  Bridgman,  of  the  American  Board,  accom- 
panied by  David  Abeel  came  as  the  first  representatives 
of  America.  Four  years  later  S.  Wells  Williams, 
sinologue,  historian,  diplomat,  joined  the  little  company 
as  a  printer,  bringing  his  printing-press  with  him.  In 
1834  Morrison  died,  having  packed  into  twenty-seven 
years  of  missionary  life  an  amount  of  achievement  in 
foundation  laying  such  as  few  if  any  have  equalled.  As 
has  been  said,  "  Any  ordinary  man  would  have  considered 
the  production  of  the  gigantic  English  Chinese  dictionary 
a  more  than  full  fifteen  years'  work.     But  Morrison  had 


28o  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

single-handed  translated  most  of  the  Bible;  had  sent 
forth  tracts,  pamphlets,  catechisms  ;  had  founded  a  dis- 
pensary and  established  a  college,  besides  other  duties  as 
translator  for  the  company,  and  preaching  and  teaching 
every  day  of  his  life." 

From  that  time  the  increase  was  rapid.  Already 
Gutzlaff  was  pioneering  along  the  shores  of  China,  visit- 
ing Tientsin  and  distributing  books  everywhere.  Two 
months  after  the  death  of  Morrison,  came  Dr.  Peter  Par- 
ker, and  inaugurated  the  great  medical  work  in  China 
and  indeed,  in  all  the  mission  field.  The  Baptists  had 
commenced  work  for  the  Chinese  at  Bangkok,  and  the 
Presbyterians  at  Singapore,  so  that,  on  the  opening  of 
the  treaty  ports  in  1842,  everything  was  ready  for  a 
prompt  occupation  of  the  field.  Batavia,  Malacca, 
Macao,  were  left ;  the  Anglo-Chinese  college  was  trans- 
ferred to  Hongkong,  and  S.  Wells  Williams  took  his 
printing-press  from  Macao,  where  it  had  been  placed  for 
greater  freedom,  to  the  protection  of  the  English  at 
Hongkong,  and  a  little  later  to  Canton. 

Opening  of  Treaty  Ports. — The  story  of  the  diplo- 
matic means  by  which  China  has  been  opened  to 
foreigners  has  been  often  told  and  generally  in  such  a 
way  as  to  leave  the  impression  that  the  foreign  nations 
were  insufferably  brutal  and  the  Chinese  government  an 
innocent  sufferer.  Undoubtedly  foreign  governments 
have  much  to  answer  for,  but  as  undoubtedly,  the  course 
they  took  was  forced  upon  them.  The  famous  Opium 
War  was  not  undertaken  to  force  opium  on  China,  but  to 
compel  China  to  observe  her  own  laws.  The  wrong  was 
in  trading  in  opium  at  all,  but  the  war  would  have  come 
on  had  the  ships  been  loaded  with  manufactures  instead 
of  drugs.     The  Chinese  government  had  to  learn  that  it 


China  281 

could  not  treat  foreigners  as  at  that  time  it  did  its  own 
defenseless  subjects.  It  could  not  buy  goods  of  the  rest 
of  the  world,  and  at  the  same  time  shut  its  doors  in 
their  faces. 

The  immediate  result  was  the  opening  of  four  ports, 
and  the  commencement  of  treaty  negotiations,  in  which 
iFrance  and  the  United  States  took  part,  the  latter  being 
represented  by  Caleb  Gushing  as  Minister,and  Dr.  Parker 
as  Secretary  of  Legation.  At  the  instance  of  France,  the 
edicts,  which  had  been  in  force  for  two  centuries 
since  the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits,  were  withdrawn. 
Christian  exiles  were  recalled,  and  Christian  work  sanc- 
tioned. In  no  one  of  the  treaties  was  there  any  mention 
made  of  opium,  which  was  legally  prohibited,  nor  was 
there  any  effort  to  force  it  upon  the  people.  There  was, 
however,  no  recognition  of  its  evil,  and  the  result  of  the 
war  was  practically  to  bind  it  upon  the  country  by  mak- 
ing interference  with  it  difficult. 

Toleration. — The  next  step  was  the  ''Arrow  War" 
(1856),  in  which  Canton  was  taken,  and  the  allied  Eng- 
lish and  French  fleets,  proceeding  to  Tientsin,  forced 
more  concessions  and  assisted  in  securing  the  treaty 
with  America,  into  which  S.  Wells  Williams,  then  Chinese 
Secretary  to  the  Legation,  succeeding  Dr.  Parker,  had  in- 
serted the  following  clause  : 

*'  The  principles  of  the  Christian  religion  as  professed 
by  the  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic  Churches  are 
recognized  as  teaching  men  to  do  good  and  to  do  to 
others  as  they  would  have  others  do  to  them.  Hereafter 
those  who  quietly  teach  and  profess  these  doctrines  shall 
not  be  harassed  or  persecuted  on  account  of  their  faith. 
Any  person,  whether  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  or  a 
Chinese  convert,   who,  according  to  these  tenets,  peace- 


282  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

ably  teaches  and  practises  the  principles  of  Christianity 
shall  in  no  wise  be  interfered  with  or  molested." 

The  principle  had  been  recognized  in  the  French 
treaty  in  1844,  but  this  specific  statement  was  worth 
much,  and  in  securing  it  Messrs.  Williams  and  W.  A.  P. 
Martin  did  the  cause  of  missions  in  China  a  great  service 
although  some  have  felt  that  any  advantage  was  more 
than  counterbalanced  by  the  injury  resulting  from  the 
quasi  endorsement  of  the  new  faith.  This  was  in  1858, 
but  it  was  not  until  i860  that  the  treaties  were  really 
made  operative  and  missions  had  a  fully  recognized  status 
in  the  empire.  The  missionaries,  however,  had  not 
waited.  One  after  another  almost  all  the  large  societies 
of  England,  America  and  Germany,  were  represented,  and 
the  work  of  evangelizing  the  great  empire  had  fairly 
begun.  As  was  inevitable  under  the  circumstances,  the 
missionaries  gathered  chiefly  in  the  treaty  ports.  They, 
however,  improved  every  opportunity  to  extend  their 
observations  into  the  interior ;  and  long,  arduous,  and 
dangerous  journeys  were  made  by  representatives  of  all 
the  societies.  The  most  noted  of  these,  perhaps,  was 
W.  C.  Burns,  the  well-known  Scotch  evangelist,  whose 
experiences,  from  the  time  when  he  made  his  first  tour 
from  Hongkong  in  1849  to  his  death  at  a  wayside  inn  in 
Manchuria  in  1867,  match  for  thrilling  interest  the 
records  of  any  mission  field.  Under  his  influence 
largely  J.  Hudson  Taylor  organized  the  China  Inland 
Mission,  which  has  done  so  much  to  reach  the  inland 
provinces.  The  other  societies  have,  however,  not  been 
slow  to  press  forward.  One  of  the  first  interior  stations 
was  that  at  Kalgan,  opened  by  the  American  Board, 
while  the  Presbyterians  occupied  Shantung,  the  Church 
Missionary   Society   and    Baptists   pressed    towards    the 


China  283 

western  provinces,  the  Irish  and  Scotch  Presbyterians 
entered  Manchuria,  and,  more  recently,  James  Gihnour, 
of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  has  made  the  name 
of  Mongolia  familiar  to  readers  of  mission  literature. 

Massacres. — In  no  mission  field  has  there  been  such 
a  series  of  terrible  massacres,  in  which  foreigners  and 
native  Christians  alike  have  suffered,  as  in  China.  The 
story  of  Madagascar  is  tragic,  and  there  have  been 
barbarous  outbursts  in  the  Pacific  islands.  In  Turkey 
the  destruction  of  life  and  property  was  great,  but  that 
was  recognized  on  every  hand  as  rather  political  than  re- 
ligious; while  the  Armenians  were  cut  down,  the  Greeks 
by  their  side  were  untouched.  In  China,  there  was  a 
bitter,  concerted,  continuous  conflict,  occasionally  break- 
ing forth  in  eruptions  of  ferocity.  It  was  probably 
fortunate  that  at  that  time  China  was  too  "  ten-thousand- 
miles-offy  "  (to  use  Mr.  Meadow*s  phrase)  to  be  seriously 
considered.  Had  it  been  the  day  of  wireless  teleg- 
raphy, it  is  difficult  to  forecast  what  might  have  hap- 
pened. 

The  effect  of  the  wars — the  resulting  treaties  and  the 
entrance  of  foreigners  into  even  the  remoter  sections  of 
the  empire — was  to  arouse  and  increase  the  bitter  hostility 
of  the  mandarin  class  against  all  foreigners.  From  the 
beginning  they  had  been  subject  to  constant  insult  and 
even  personal  danger;  but  in  1870,  ten  years  after  the 
full  enforcement  of  the  treaties,  there  broke  out  a  perfect 
fury  of  massacre.  In  January  the  Roman  Catholic  and 
Protestant  missionaries  at  Hankow  were  attacked,  and  a 
number  killed,  while  their  buildings  were  destroyed. 
This  was  followed  in  July  by  the  celebrated  massacre 
at  Tientsin,  when  the  French  consulate,  convent,  and 
cathedral  were  destroyed,  and  a  large  number  of  French 


284  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

and  Russian  residents  were  killed,  many  of  them 
mutilated  in  the  most  horrible  manner.  The  excitement 
spread,  and  threatening  demonstrations  were  made 
against  foreigners  everywhere  before  quiet  could  be  re- 
stored. The  government  executed  sixteen  Chinest  and 
exiled  two  mandarins,  but  the  leaders  went  unpunished, 
and  the  general  impression  left  upon  the  country  was 
that,  while  the  foreigners  would  make  a  strong  protest, 
nothing  very  serious  would  happen.  The  result  was 
a  long  series  of  attacks  of  greater  or  less  severity  upon 
the  mission  stations  scattered  throughout  the  country. 
There  was  punishment  of  offenders,  but  still  no  effective 
check,  and  the  publishing  in  1891  of  the  famous  Hunan 
placards  was  followed  by  a  series  of  peculiarly  virulent 
attacks,  the  worst  of  which  was  the  murder  at  Ku  Cheng 
in  1895  of  the  entire  missionary  company. 

Foreign  Aggressions. — The  result  of  these  was  such 
positive  interference  by  foreign  governments,  that  it 
seemed  for  a  time  as  if  the  worst  was  past.  Then  came 
a  period  of  commercial  aggression,  followed  in  1894  by 
the  war  with  Japan,  the  seizing  of  Weihaiwei  by  the 
British,  of  Shantung  by  the  Germans,  of  Manchuria  by 
Russia,  while  France  threatened  to  add  South  China  to 
Tongking.  Defeated  by  her  neighbour,  whom  she  had 
always  despised ;  threatened  on  every  side  by  forces, 
vague  but  very  mighty;  finding  her  vast  inland  provinces 
defiled  by  the  *' foreign  devils,"  who  persisted  in  run- 
ning railroads  through  burying  grounds,  healing  disease 
in  ways  entirely  unorthodox,  penetrating  into  the 
bowels  of  the  earth  where  they  had  no  business  to  go, 
ignoring  the  sacred  rites,  and  presuming  to  introduce 
new  customs ;  above  all  realizing  that  the  emperor  him- 
self had  caught  the  infection  ; — it  was  little  wonder  that 


China  285 

a  final  effort  was  made  to  absolutely  crush  out  the  entire 
Christian  element,  and  restore  China  to  her  pristine 
glory,  isolation,  and  the  absolute  rule  of  the  mandarins 
and  the  reigning  dynasty. 

Boxer  Uprising. — The  story  of  the  Boxer  uprising 
(i 899-1 900)  is  not  yet  sufficiently  far  removed  in  time 
to  be  entirely  forgotten.  To  give  it  in  any  detail  here 
is  impossible.  If  ever  there  was  a  trial  by  fire,  surely  it 
was  then.  The  fury  of  the  leaders  knew  no  bounds. 
None  were  spared.  Tortures  recalling  the  worst  days  of 
the  Spanish  Inquisition  were  inflicted  on  women  and 
children  as  well  as  men.  Flight  was  often  an  impossibil- 
ity. Some  indeed  escaped,  but  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
five  missionaries,  besides  fifty-twQ  children  were  sacrificed 
to  the  fury  of  the  leaders  and  the  mob.  The  number  of 
native  Christians  who  perished  will  never  be  known.  It 
has  been  estimated  at  16,000.  Most,  if  not  all,  might 
have  saved  their  lives  by  a  very  slight  denial  of  their 
faith.  With  scarcely  an  exception  they  stood  firm. 
Many  voluntarily  endangered  their  lives  in  their  desire 
to  be  with  and  assist  those  who  had  brought  to  them  the 
knowledge  of  a  Saviour.  It  is  significant  that  the  term 
"  rice-Christian  "  has  practically  disappeared  from  refer- 
ences to  Chinese  converts. 

One  of  the  most  important  questions  connected  with 
the  Chinese  massacres  has  been  whether  they  were  di- 
rected against  the  missionaries  because  they  were  mis- 
sionaries, or  because  they  were  foreigners.  Was  the 
religious  or  the  political  element  predominant?  The 
fact  that  it  was  almost  entirely  the  missionaries  who  suf- 
fered has  led  to  the  belief  that  it  was  their  missionary 
work  which  inspired  the  hatred  of  the  mob.  This  has 
been  supported  by  Mr.  Henry  Norman  in  the  phrase, 


286  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

"The  Chinese  themselves  bracket  opium  and  mission- 
aries as  the  twin  curses  of  the  country."  Through  all 
the  earlier  massacres,  certainly  until  the  Boxer  outbreak, 
it  was  the  universal  testimony  of  the  missionaries  that  the 
hostility  to  them  was  not  felt  by  the  common  people, 
except  as  they  were  excited  by  the  mandarins ;  and  that 
it  was  directed,  not  against  their  religious  teaching,  but 
against  their  introduction  of  customs  and  ideas  which 
tended  to  weaken  the  power  of  the  mandarins  over  them. 
The  mandarins  thus  took  advantage  of  everything  that 
could  arouse  the  superstition  of  the  masses.  As  religion 
has  little  hold  upon  the  people,  but  tradition  and  custom 
are  all-powerful,  the  leaders  seized  upon  every  breach  of 
custom  to  inflame  the  passions  of  the  populace.  With 
an  almost  diabolical  shrewdness,  they  attacked  the  most 
philanthropic  work,  and  with  great  ingenuity  portrayed 
it  as  violating  every  precept  of  humanity.  Medical 
aid  was  charged  with  the  most  revolting  forms  of  mutila- 
tion, schools  were  described  as  hotbeds  of  vice,  orphanages 
as  furnishing  material  for  witchcraft. 

The  final  outburst  was  due  to  a  combination  or  con- 
centration of  the  influences  that  had  been  at  work  ever 
since  the  war  of  1840  and  the  treaties  of  1842.  It  was 
the  last  mighty  effort  of  the  blind  giant  to  destroy  the 
powers  that  were  gradually  overcoming  him.  The  abso- 
lute failure  stunned  him.  Then  when  a  few  years  later 
Japan  defeated  Russia,  there  came  a  revulsion,  and  with 
a  vigour  and  an  irresistible  force  like  a  torrent  the  life  of 
the  empire  turned  towards  the  very  influences  whose 
destruction  had  been  sought.  Many  still  look  on  with 
incredulity.  Is  it  impossible  for  the  past  to  be  repealed  ? 
The  answer  is  best  found  in  the  record  of  the  mission 
work. 


China  287 

Medical  Work. — In  all  departments  every  effort 
has  been  made  to  conciliate  the  people.  Popular  preju- 
dices have  so  far  as  possible  been  respected.  In  itinera- 
tion, and  especially  in  newer  fields,  the  Chinese  dress  has 
been  adopted,  partly  to  avoid  attracting  unfavourable 
notice,  partly  to  gain  the  attention  of  those  who  would 
simply  have  looked  with  hostility  on  men  or  women  in 
the  garb  of  *'  foreign  devils."  Suffering  has  been  allevi- 
ated. Nowhere  is  the  need  in  this  respect  greater,  yet 
the  very  need  seems  to  emphasize  the  fears  and  prejudices 
of  the  people,  so  that  the  greatest  care  has  to  be  taken 
not  to  arouse  hostility. 

The  native  system  of  medicine  is  of  much  the  same 
grade  as  the  witchcraft  of  Africa  and  the  South  Seas,  at 
least  in  its  practical  application.  The  crowded  condition 
of  the  population  engenders  disease,  but  at  the  same  time 
brings  multitudes  of  sufferers  within  easy  access  of  the 
physician  and  surgeon.  Dr.  Peter  Parker's  hospital, 
opened  in  Canton  in  1835,  in  the  first  year  received 
nearly  two  thousand  patients.  From  that  beginning  the 
number  has  increased  until  there  is  scarcely  a  station  in 
China  without  a  medical  missionary  and  at  least  a  dis- 
pensary, while  in  many  of  the  cities  there  are  several 
large  hospitals  under  the  auspices  of  the  different  mis- 
sionary societies.  Recognized  as  distinctly  missionary 
enterprises,  and  prepari.tory  or  introductory  to  evangel- 
istic work,  the  seed  sown  in  them  has  borne  rich  fruit. 

Somewhat  similar  in  type  is  the  work  of  the  orphan- 
ages, of  which  the  greater  number  are  Roman  Catholic. 
That  Church  has  of  late  years  made  comparatively  little 
effort  to  reach  adult  Chinese,  but  has  devoted  itself  chiefly 
to  gathering  orphan  or  destitute  children  and  educating 
them,  in  the  belief  that  that  is  the  most  effective  way  of 


288  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

building  up  a  native  Roman  Catholic  community.  The 
Protestant  missionaries,  on  the  other  hand,  have  sought 
to  reach  families  through  the  children  rather  than  to 
isolate  them  in  such  establishments.  The  medical  work 
has  been  generally  cordially  appreciated  by  all  classes  of 
the  people,  although  instances  have  occurred  of  bitter 
hostility  to  it.  The  orphanages,  however,  have  been  fre- 
quently the  object  of  attack,  and  have  suffered  greatly, 
probably  because  of  the  prevalent  belief  of  the  ignorant, 
fostered  by  the  mandarins,  that  the  eyes  and  members  of 
the  children  were  used  in  the  concoction  of  drugs. 

Evangelistic  Work. — This  was  at  first  chiefly  of  the 
nature  of  personal  conversation.  Audiences  it  was  diffi- 
cult to  gather,  and  still  more  difficult  to  control.  As  the 
presence  of  missionaries  became  more  familiar,  chapels 
were  built,  ordinarily  on  side  streets,  so  as  to  avoid  pub- 
lic attention  as  much  as  possible.  Later  larger  buildings 
were  erected  and  in  more  prominent  places  until  In  many 
of  the  cities  churches  of  considerable  size  and  holding 
large  audiences  are  to  be  found.  In  this  the  China  In- 
land Mission  and  a  number  of  kindred  societies  have  been 
foremost.  They  have  penetrated  to  the  remotest  sections 
of  the  country,  often  undergoing  great  privation,  but 
reaching  a  vast  number,  and  they  have  by  no  means  been 
alone.  Every  mission  has  done  the  same  work,  and  the 
result  has  been  that  stations  have  been  established  in  every 
province  of  the  empire.  The  two  great  evangelists,  the 
ones  who  did  more  probably  than  any  other  two  men  to 
open  up  the  land  and  reveal  the  possibilities  of  personal 

j  intercourse,  were  William  C.  Burns  and  James  Gilmour, 
the  former  in  China,  the  latter  extending  his  work  into 

1    Mongolia.     It  has   been  this   public   preaching,  in  com- 
munities where    not    one    in  a  thousand,   or  not  more 


China  289 

than  ten  per  cent,  of  the  men,  can  read,  which  has  sown 
the  seed  that  has  sprung  up  in  the  recent  revivals.  To 
this,  too,  probably  not  less  than  to  the  philanthropic  work 
has  been  due  the  gradual  victory  of  the  missionary  over 
the  hostile  prejudices  of  the  people.  Tact,  sympathy, 
love,  are  not  less  powerful  there  than  in  other  lands,  and 
the  simple  story  of  the  life  of  Christ  has  disarmed  many 
a  foe.  The  contrast  between  different  lands  is  seen  in 
the  fact  as  claimed  by  experienced  workers  that,  whereas 
in  India,  quotations  from  Hindu  classics  disarm  preju- 
dice and  create  sympathy;  in  China  to  quote  Confucius 
is  to  leave  the  impression  that  after  all  he  is  the  authority. 
Education. — in  the  earlier  years,  comparatively  little 
stress  was  laid  on  education,  except  so  far  as  it  was  es- 
sential for  the  training  of  preachers.  Competition  with 
the  elaborate  examinations  for  the  Chinese  civil  service, 
was  scarcely  possible,  and  all  who  cared  to  study  at  all 
attended  them.  Dr.  Happer  opened  the  first  successful 
day-school  at  Canton  in  1850,  and  made  heroic  efforts  to 
build  up  a  college,  but  met  with  little  encouragement. 
One  great  difficulty  was  that  of  securing  competent  Chris- 
tian teachers,  and  more  than  in  most  countries  was  it  the 
experience  that  none  at  all  was  better  than  non-Chris- 
tian instruction.  It  is  significant  that  one  of  the  best 
books  on  Chinese  missions  (by  Dr.  J.  C.  Gibson)  scarcely 
more  than  mentions  education.  It  is  true  that  the  situa- 
tion in  this  respect  was  better  in  the  North  than  in  the 
South,  but  even  with  the  help  of  W.  A.  P.  Martin, 
Chinese  colleges  have  had  somewhat  late  development. 
Within  the  past  few  years,  however,  the  growth  has  been 
great.  Since  the  Russo-Japan  war,  China  has  awakened 
from  her  sleep,  and  to-day  there  is  no  mission  field  where 
Christian  education,  of  every  grade,  has  a  grander  oppor- 


290  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

tunity.  According  to  statistics  presented  at  the  China 
Centenary  Conference,  there  were  in  all  China  in  1876, 
289  mission  schools  with  4,909  pupils;  in  1906,  15,137 
schools  with  57,683  pupils.  Even  more  significant  has 
been  the  fact  tliat  everywhere  the  foremost  Chinese 
officials  of  the  day  are  turning  to  missionaries  for  as- 
sistance in  guiding  the  new  impulse.  One  of  the  great 
problems  discussed  in  the  Student  Convention  at  Tokyo 
just  following  the  Shanghai  centenary,  was  that  of  influ- 
encing the  20,000  Chinese  students  that  were  in  that 
country. 

Among  the  most  useful  methods  has  been  the  spread 
of  Christian  books  and  tracts.  Bible  versions  have  been 
slower  in  developing  than  in  some  lands,  owing  chiefly  to 
the  great  number  of  colloquial  dialects,  though  the 
mandarin  version  ranks  with  the  great  versions  of  the 
Church.  In  the  line  of  smaller  literature  there  has  been 
a  great  deal  done,  especially  by  the  Christian  Literature 
Society  for  China  under  the  lead  of  Timothy  Richard, 
and  the  service  in  correcting  erroneous  ideas  as  to 
Western  science  and  history,  and  thus  removing  preju- 
dice has  been  invaluable.  Of  a  higher  grade  there  has 
also  been  much  done,  and  W.  A.  P.  Martin's  "  Evidences 
of  Christianity,"  although  at  first  not  greatly  appreciated 
in  China,  had  a  mighty  influence  in  Japan. 

The  Native  Church. — The  development  of  native 
churches  in  China,  as  elsewhere,  has  been  the  great  aim 
of  mission  work.  It  has,  however,  been  beset  with 
peculiar  difficulties.  The  bitter  opposition  of  the  man- 
darins to  all  acceptance  of  foreign  customs,  and  the  gen- 
eral conservatism  of  the  people,  have  not  been  more 
serious  obstacles  than  the  characteristics  of  the  people 
which   have    been   set  forth  so  vividly  in  many  books, 


China  291 

especially  that  by  Arthur  H.  Smith,  of  the  American 
Board,  and  they  are  so  generally  appreciated,  perhaps  at 
more  than  their  full  value,  that  they  scarcely  need  refer- 
ence here;  the  lack  of  sincerity,  of  real  convictions  of 
any  kind,  the  natural  result  of  the  curious  mingling  of 
the  three  forms  of  worship,  have  been  perhaps  the  most 
serious  obstacles  to  the  building  up  of  solid  Christian 
churches.  When  a  man  is  Confucianist,  Buddhist,  or 
Taoist,  by  turns  or  all  at  once,  it  is  not  difficult  for  him 
to  think  that  he  can  be  a  Christian  too,  and  that  without 
necessarily  giving  up  the  other  faiths.  Closely  connected 
with  this  has  been  the  distinctively  mercantile  character 
of  the  Chinese,  emphasized  by  the  term  "  rice-Chris- 
tians," denoting  those  who  accepted  the  new  faith  for 
gain.  The  poverty  of  the  people,  and  the  small  number 
that  could  be  gathered  in  any  one  place,  hindered  the 
progress  of  self-support,  while  the  absolute  need  of  rely- 
ing chiefly  upon  native  evangelists  for  covering  the  enor- 
mous field,  developed  a  class  of  missionary  employees 
dependent  on  foreign  funds,  and  made  the  problem  still 
more  difficult.  That  the  material  was  there,  and  of  the 
best  quality,  needing  only  careful  and  thorough  training, 
all  admitted,  and  the  record  of  the  Boxer  massacres  has 
forever  closed  the  mouths  of  those  who  have  scouted  the 
idea  of  a  Chinese  church. 

With  the  development  of  the  Chinese  national  idea  in 
its  new  form,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  indeed  it  is  inevitable, 
that  there  shall  grow  up  a  broader,  deeper,  higher  idea 
as  to  the  character  of  the  Chinese  church.  Already  there 
are  indications  of  the  trend  of  thought,  most  notably  as 
expressed  in  the  Morrison  Centenary  Conference.  So  far 
as  the  native  church  is  concerned  that  body  put  itself  on 
record  as  making  no  effort  to  compel  or  even  to  press  for 


292  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

any  specific  confessional  statement,  but  to  leave  that  to 
the  influences  at  work  in  the  church  itself.  So  also  in 
regard  to  form  of  government,  recognizing  the  diversity 
it  urged  such  union  as  was  possible  between  those  of  like 
faith  or  similar  polity,  but  for  the  great  company  for 
whom  this  might  be  impracticable  it  urged  a  federation, 
which  should  include  all  the  Christians  in  the  empire. 

The  Morrison  Centenary. — Few,  if  any,  more  re- 
markable coincidences  have  occurred  in  many  years  than 
the  celebration  of  the  centenary  of  the  commencement  of 
modern  missions  in  China,  and  the  convention  of  the 
World's  Student  Federation  in  Japan.  There  had  been 
great  preparation  for  both,  and  both  far  exceeded  expecta- 
tion. At  Shanghai  the  dominant  thought,  overpowering 
even  gratitude  for  the  past,  was  the  Chinese  church  of 
the  future,  a  church  one  in  faith  even  if  not  uniform  in 
polity ;  with  an  educated  ministry,  leading  an  educated 
people  into  the  higher  realms  of  Christian  citizenship. 
That  such  a  gathering  could  have  been  within  seven  years 
of  the  Boxer  massacres,  was  in  itself  a  marvel.  Not  less 
so  was  the  spirit  that  held  the  1,170  men  and  women 
who  met  in  the  sessions,  apart  from  some  hundreds  who 
did  not  register.  For  ten  days  every  phase  of  missionary 
effort  was  considered  fully  and  frankly,  with  no  yielding 
of  personal  convictions,  even  when  there  was  waiving  of 
personal  opinions,  resulting  in  a  series  of  resolutions  of 
the  highest  character  and  the  greatest  promise  for  the 
future  of  the  work.  There  was  hearty  recognition  of  the 
high  purpose  of  the  government  in  its  effort  to  suppress 
the  use  of  opium,  and  to  extend  education.  There  was 
earnest  emphasis  of  the  need  of  still  further  training  of 
physicians,  that  through  care  for  physical  need,  spiritual 
wants  might  be  supplied  ;  of  the  value  of  Christian  litera- 


China  293 

ture  adapted  to  the  awakening  thought,  and  especially 
fitted  to  meet  the  increasing  circulation  of  rationalistic 
and  anti-Christian  literature  ;  of  the  necessity  of  meeting 
openly  and  effectively  evil  practices  injuring  the  church, 
as  litigation,  concubinage,  and  the  use  of  church-mem- 
bership for  private  ends  ;  of  providing  for  fuller  primary, 
and  more  complete  higher  training  in  schools  under  the 
superintendence  of  missions  but  distinctively  Chinese. 
All  these  however  were  centered  in  the  one  controlling 
topic,  the  native  Chinese  church,  already  manifesting  a 
national  spirit  which  many  have  supposed  to  be  entirely 
lacking,  and  drawing  together  for  the  one  purpose  of 
bringing  the  empire  to  Christ.  As  one  essential  to  this, 
the  divisions  were  earnestly  deprecated,  so  far  as  they 
prevented  the  most  cordial  cooperation  and  the  present- 
ing of  a  united  front  to  the  forces  that  are  awakening. 
To  this  end  there  was  adopted  a  general  declaration  of 
the  unity  of  faith  and  purpose  which  may  well  be  the 
platform  for  the  United  Church  of  Christ  in  China,  or 
indeed  for  The  United  Church  of  Christ  in  all  the  Earth  : 
"Whereas  it  is  frequently  asserted  that  Protestant  mis- 
sions present  a  divided  front  to  those  outside  and  create 
confusion  by  a  large  variety  of  inconsistent  teaching ;  and 
whereas  the  minds  both  of  Christian  and  non-Christian 
Chinese  are  in  danger  of  being  thus  led  into  an  exag- 
gerated estimate  of  our  differences,  this  Centenary  Con- 
ference, representing  all  Protestant  missions  at  present 
working  in  China,  unanimously  holds  the  Scriptures  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments  as  the  supreme  standard  of 
faith  and  practice,  and  holds  firmly  the  primitive  apostolic 
faith  ;  further,  while  acknowledging  the  Apostles'  Creed 
and  Nicene  Creed  as  substantially  expressing  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith,  the  Conference 


294  Ihe  Missionary  Enterprise 

does  not  adopt  any  creed  as  a  basis  of  Church  unity  and 
leaves  confessional  questions  to  the  judgment  of  the 
Chinese  Church  for  further  consideration.  Yet  in  view 
of  our  knowledge  of  each  other's  doctrinal  symbols, 
history,  work,  and  character,  we  gladly  recognize  our- 
selves as  already  one  body,  teaching  one  way  of  eternal 
life  and  calling  men  into  one  holy  fellowship;  and  as  one 
in  our  teaching  as  to  the  love  of  God  the  Father,  God 
the  Son,  and  God  the  Holy  Ghost ;  in  our  testimony  as  to 
sin  and  salvation,  and  our  homage  to  the  divine  and  holy 
Redeemer  of  men ;  one  in  our  call  to  the  purity  of  the 
Christian  life,  and  in  our  witness  to  the  splendours  of  the 
Christian  hope.  We  frankly  recognize  that  we  differ  as 
to  methods  of  administration  and  of  church  government ; 
that  some  among  us  differ  from  others  as  to  the  adminis- 
tration of  baptism ;  and  that  there  are  some  differences 
as  to  the  statement  of  the  doctrine  of  predestination,  or 
the  election  of  grace.  But  we  unite  in  holding  that  these 
exceptions  do  not  invalidate  the  assertion  of  our  real  unity 
in  our  common  witness  to  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God. 
*'  That  in  planting  anew  the  Church  of  Christ  on  Chi- 
nese soil  we  desire  only  to  plant  one  Holy  Catholic  Church, 
under  the  sole  control  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  governed 
by  the  Word  of  the  living  God  and  led  by  His  guiding 
Spirit.  While  freely  communicating  to  this  Church  the 
knowledge  of  truth  and  the  rich  historical  experience  to 
which  older  Churches  have  attained,  we  fully  recognize 
the  liberty  in  Christ  of  the  Chinese  Church  planted  by 
means  of  the  missions  and  Churches  which  we  represent ; 
and  we  desire  to  commit  it  in  faith  and  hope  to  the  con- 
tinued safe-kee])ing  of  its  Lord,  when  the  time  shall 
arrive  which  we  eagerly  anticipate — when  it  shall  pass 
beyond  our  guidance  and  control." 


XVIII 

JAPAN 

IN  no  country  does  the  history  of  missions  show  such 
extremes  of  light  and  shade  as  in  Japan.  At  two 
different  periods  it  has  seemed  as  if  the  complete 
Christianization  of  the  empire  was  almost  accomplished, 
requiring  only  a  little  more  time  and  a  little  more  effort 
on  the  part  of  missionaries.  The  first  period  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  time  of  intense  darkness,  when  the  Christian 
faith  was  all  but  blotted  out  by  a  persecution  perhaps  the 
most  bitter  and  relentless  the  world  has  ever  known. 
The  second  was  followed  by  a  reaction  which,  while  not 
endangering  the  existence  of  the  new  church,  tested  its 
quality,  purified  it,  and  revealed  to  it  the  full  extent  of 
the  task  before  it.  If  to-day  there  is  less  exuberance  of 
gratulation,  there  is  a  profoundness  of  conviction  and  a 
soberness  of  effort  which  mean  more  for  the  future  than 
the  spectacular  victories  of  the  past. 

Roman  Catholic  Missions. — The  maritime  dis- 
coveries of  the  sixteenth  century  first  brought  Japan  to 
the  notice  of  the  Christian  world.  As  early  as  1542 
some  Portuguese  traders  inaugurated  a  system  of  barter 
with  the  Japanese  ports,  and  some  of  the  daimios  (feudal 
lords)  expressed  an  interest  in  Christianity.  The  word 
came  to  Xavier  at  Malacca,  where  he  had  met  a  Japa- 
nese, who  was  converted  under  his  preaching,  and  he 
started  for  Japan,  reaching  there  in  August,  1549.  The 
time  was  propitious.     The  whole  country  was  divided 

295 


296  The   Missionary  Enterprise 

among  the  warring  factions  of  the  daimios,  each  anxious 
to  secure  such  preeminence  as  to  make  him  independent, 
and  perhaps  enable  him  to  aspire  to  the  position  of  sho- 
gun  or  tycoon,  and  nominally  as  the  representative, 
really  the  master,  of  the  mikado,  rule  the  land.  The 
religious  power,  both  of  the  native  Shinto  (a  combination 
of  nature-worship  and  the  deification  of  ancestors  es- 
pecially of  the  imperial  line)  and  its  conqueror,  Bud- 
dhism, was  at  a  low  ebb.  Xavier  was  received  with  a 
most  cordial  welcome,  and  his  preaching,  with  his  con- 
vert as  interpreter,  had  a  wonderful  effect.  He  remained 
in  the  country  two  and  a  half  years,  organized  a  number 
of  congregations,  and  then  left  for  China,  but  died  before 
he  could  begin  his  work  there.  Others  took  his  place,  and 
the  work  spread  marvellously.  In  1581  there  were  200 
churches  mostly  in  the  west,  but  some  as  far  east  as  Yedo 
(Tokyo),  and  150,000  Christians,  drawn  from  every  class 
and  including  two  daimios.  Then  followed  embassies 
to  the  Pope,  and  the  number  of  converts  increased  until 
there  were  (1590)  about  600,000.  Suddenly  the  chief 
protector  of  the  Christians  was  assassinated,  and  General 
Hideyoshi,  a  loyal  supporter  of  the  mikado,  came  into 
power.  Cordially  tolerant  of  Christianity  in  itself,  he 
became  suspicious  of  certain  political  aims  which  be- 
came apparent,  and  the  arrival  of  Franciscans  and  Do- 
minicans, with  their  hatred  of  the  Jesuits,  who  had  hitherto 
been  alone,  combined  with  other  causes  to  confirm  his 
resolve  to  weaken  their  power.  .  The  Christian  leaders 
were  sent  to  Korea,  then  at  war  with  Japan  ;  the  priests 
were  killed  or  exiled.  The  work,  however,  went  on, 
though  more  secretly;  and  on  Hideyoshi's  death  (1594) 
the  Christians  numbered  a  million  and  a  half.  Another 
contest,  and  the  victorious  lyeyasu,  as  soon  as  he  was 


Japan  297 

fairly  established  in  power,  commenced  the  persecution 
which  resulted  in  the  expulsion  of  all  foreigners,  the 
slaughter  of  immense  numbers  of  native  Christians,  and 
the  absolute  prohibition  of  Christianity. 

The  Dark  Age. — lyeyasu's  first  edict  against  Chris- 
tianity was  in  1606,  but  was  not  enforced  with  rigour.  In 
1614  he  issued  a  stronger  one;  so  far  as  possible  the 
priests  were  transported,  but  many  secreted  themselves. 
Of  the .  native  Christians  comparatively  few  yielded. 
Then  came  the  severest  measures.  Every  foreigner  was 
condemned  to  death,  and  fire  and  sword  were  used  upon 
the  Christians  until  at  last,  to  all  appearance,  Christian- 
ity was  extinct.'  Two  and  a  half  centuries  later,  on  the 
reopening  of  the  empire,  several  communities  were  found 
in  which  the  rite  of  baptism  was  kept  up,  and  there  was 
still  cherished  the  Christian  name  and  a  weak  form  of 
Christian  faith.  Had  the  Jesuits  done  as  much  towards 
giving  these  people  the  Scriptures,  even  as  they  did  in 
the  preparation  of  grammars,  catechisms,  etc.,  the  result 
might  have  been  a  good  foundation  for  modern  missions. 
These  communities  were  too  weak  and  ignorant  to  be  a 
power  in  the  land. 

The  edict  of  1614  was  published  all  over  the  empire, 
copies  being  put  in  every  conspicuous  place.  Not  con- 
tent with  absolutely  forbidding  all  foreigners  to  enter 
the  empire,  all  Japanese  who  went  to  foreign  lands,  even 
castaways  by  shipwreck,  were  sentenced  to  death  on 
their  return.  It  was  however  impossible  absolutely  to 
close  the  door.  A  Dutch  settlement  continued  to  exist 
on  an  island  fronting  Nagasaki,  and  though  its  com- 
merce was  limited  to  one  ship  a  year,  and  that  seldom 
carried  more  than  twelve  persons,  it  was  an  object-lesson 
in  another  civilization  which  did  not  fail  of  having  an 


298  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

effect  on  the  minds  of  many  Japanese.  The  unfortunate 
fishermen  driven  to  other  shores  attracted  attention,  and 
early  in  the  last  century  there  were  many  efforts  by  for- 
eign ships  to  secure  their  restoration  to  their  native  land. 
One  attempt  in  1837,  when  S.  Wells  Williams  and  Giitz- 
laff  accompanied  seven  such  exiles,  but  were  unable  to 
secure  their  admission,  resulted  in  the  first  steps  towards 
a  Japanese  Bible.  Then  came  increasing  trade,  foreign 
ships  were  a  more  frequent  sight,  and  ill-treatment  of  for 
eign  sailors  called  for  government  interference.  This  led 
to  the  famous  visits  of  Commodore  Perry  in  1853  and 
1854.  On  the  first  he  delivered  to  the  shogun  at  Yedo 
a  letter  from  the  President  of  the  United  States.  On  the 
second,  with  seven  ships  of  war,  he  sailed  up  the  harbour 
to  Tokyo,  and  with  the  scarcely  veiled  threat  of  using 
his  guns,  secured  the  first  treaty,  which  opened  two  ports. 
This  was  followed  by  treaties  with  England  and  Russia, 
and  another,  more  favourable,  with  America,  until  in 
1859  the  way  was  open,  the  dark  age  had  closed,  and 
Christian  missions  were  again  possible. 

Modern  Missions. — During  all  these  years  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Christian  world  had  been  earnestly  directed 
to  the  empire.  With  Commodore  Perry  was  S.  Wells 
Williams  as  interpreter,  already  interested  in  the  Japanese  > 
and  an  earnest  appeal  from  him  and  others  went  to  the 
Church  in  America  to  be  ready.  Several  visits  were 
made  by  missionaries  in  China  to  Nagasaki,  but  as  yet 
foreign  residence  was  not  permitted.  Early  in  1859, 
however,  when  it  became  evident  that  a  change  was  at 
hand,  the  advance  guard  entered.  In  May,  two  months 
before  the  actual  opening  of  the  ports,  J.  Liggins  and 
C.  M.  Williams  opened  at  Nagasaki  the  Japan  Mission 
of   the  Protestant    Episcopal    Church  of  America.     In 


Japan  299 

October  J.  C.  Hepburn,  M.  D.  (Presbyterian)  arrived  at 
Kanagawa,  near  Yokohama,  and  the  next  month  S.  R. 
Brown  and  Guido  F.  Verbeck  (Reformed  Church  in 
America)  joined  the  companies  at  these  two  places.  It 
was  a  noble  band  of  men,  exceptional  even  among  those 
whose  names  have  become  famous  in  missionary  annals. 
Not  one  but  has  left  his  stamp  upon  new  Japan.  Of 
great  intellectual  ability,  they  were  gifted  with  marvellous 
tact  in  dealing  with  a  people  that  has  for  half  a  century 
been  an  enigma  to  the  Occidental.  Patient,  persevering, 
seeking  the  best  in  those  with  whom  they  came  in  con- 
tact, they  won  a  personal  place  such  as  it  has  seldom 
been  the  fortune  of  missionaries  to  win  in  the  first  years 
of  their  life  in  a  new  land.  It  was  chiefly  this  group  of 
men  that  Marquis  Ito  had  in  mind  when  he  said,  recall- 
ing the  days  of  his  own  youth  : 

'*  Japan's  progress  and  development  are  largely  due  to 
the  influence  of  missionaries  exerted  in  right  directions, 
when  Japan  was  first  studying  the  outer  world." 

The  Missionary  Problem. — The  situation  at  first 
was  very  different  from  that  when  Xavier  commenced  his 
work.  The  anti-foreign  tradition  was  all-powerful,  not 
merely  in  the  government,  but  among  the  people.  The 
presence  of  the  edicts  in  full  public  view  for  two  and  a 
half  centuries  had  identified  Christianity  with  everything 
anti- Japanese,  and  aioused  the  national  feeling  to  its 
highest  pitch.  The  poHtical  situation,  too,  was  chang- 
ing. There  was  a  revival  of  learning,  and  a  return  to 
the  old  Shinto,  which  had  been  overshadowed  by  Bud- 
dhism and  Confucianism,  the  latter  of  rather  later  devel- 
opment. With  this  came  a  desire  to  restore  the  rule  of 
the  mikado  in  place  of  the  shogunate,  which  had  been 
practically   supreme   since  lyeyasu.     The  treaties   with 


300  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

foreign  powers  were  made  a  pretext  for  revolt  in  favour 
of  the  actual  reign  of  the  mikado,  which  cuhiiinated  in 
a  battle  near  Kyoto,  in  January,  1868,  and  the  overthrow 
of  the  shogunate.  The  leaders  in  the  mikado's  party 
were  mostly  from  the  west,  and  bitterly  opposed  to  all 
European  civilization.  As  they  became  better  acquainted 
with  it,  however,  they  were  converted,  secured  the  re- 
newal of  the  treaties,  and  showed  a  disposition  to  meet 
foreigners  cordially.  For  a  while  the  old  regime  was 
continued  ;  but  before  long  the  edicts  were  first  ignored, 
then  removed  (on  the  ground  that  they  were  so  well 
known  as  to  be  no  longer  necessary),  and  Japan  was  open 
in  an  even  better  and  truer  sense  than  when  the  Jesuits 
landed.  There  were  however  certain  important  facts. 
With  all  the  readiness  to  adopt  foreign  customs,  there 
was  a  very  definite  purpose  to  adapt  them  to  Japanese 
ideas.  Foreigners  were  welcome  to  give  any  assistance 
in  their  power,  but  it  must  be  confined  to  assistance,  not 
allowed  to  develop  into  rule.  The  moral  of  the  story, 
whether  true  or  not,  that  a  Spaniard  had  said  to 
Hideyoshi  that  the  Pope  sends  priests  to  win  the  people, 
then  troops  to  join  the  native  Christians  and  thus  gain 
a  political  supremacy,  had  become  deep-rooted  in  the 
national  consciousness  and  presented  a  most  serious  ob- 
stacle. Other  characteristics  were  both  favourable  and 
unfavourable  to  mission  work.  The  quick  intelligence 
of  the  people,  their  easy  assimilation  of  new  ideas  and 
adaptation  of  new  methods,  their  courtesy  and  cordial 
friendliness  of  manner,  their  intense  patriotism,  eager  to 
get  every  advantage  for  their  country,  even  their  lack  of 
the  sense  of  personality,  making  the  individual  subordi- 
nate to  the  nation,  community,  and  family,  their  thirst 
for  knowledge,  and  deference  to  those  who  they  recognize 


Japan  30 1 

can  help  theai — these  all  were  and  are  favourable.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  lack  of  a  true  conception  of  morals, 
manifest  both  in  social  and  commercial  life ;  an  apparent 
tendency  towards  vacillation,  a  lack  of  fixedness  of  pur- 
pose, both  largely  the  result  of  the  open-mindedness 
which  was  quick  to  recognize  a  possible  advantage  and 
adopt  it,  even  at  the  cost  of  consistency  ;  lack  of  appre- 
ciation of  favours,  and  not  infrequently  ingratitude ;  per- 
fect self-confidence — these  have  always  been  recognized 
as  hindrances.  These  characteristics  indeed  are  by  no 
means  without  their  advantages.  Vacillation  offers  an 
opening  for  Christianity,  even  if  it  hinders  a  consistent 
profession  of  it.-  Self-confidence  tends  towards  inde- 
pendence of  thought  and  life  in  church  as  well  as  nation. 
Even  the  patriotic  revival  of  Shinto,  attended  by  that  of 
Buddhism,  was  in  a  sense  a  challenge  to  the  new  faith. 
If  Christianity  could  prove  itself  better,  it  was  free  to 
do  so. 

Effect  of  Treaties. — The  fourteen  years  after  the 
making  of  the  treaties  were,  as  has  been  noted,  years  of 
mighty  change  in  the  political  life  of  Japan.  In  the 
strife  between  the  old  and  the  new,  it  seemed  for  a  time 
doubtful  which  would  win.  In  1868  the  old  mikado 
died,  the  new  mikado  came  to  the  throne,  and  when  he 
gave  his  signature  to  the  treaties  the  old  seclusion  was  at 
an  end.  What  should  be  the  guiding  influence  ?  The 
world  looked  on- in  wonder  not  unmingled  with  anxiety. 
Meanwhile  the  little  band  of  missionaries  had  been  doing 
such  work  as  seldom  falls  to  the  lot  of  men.  The  treaties 
of  1859  gave  to  foreigners  simply  right  of  residence  and 
trade  in  certain  localities.  The  great  part  of  the  country 
was  still  closed  to  them.  The  an ti- Christian  feeling  that 
had  ruled  for  over  two  centuries,  was  not  only  still  in 


3o2  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

force  but  very  evident,  and  there  were  no  privileges  of 
preaching,  at  least  in  public.  Two  of  the  company  were 
physicians  and  medical  skill  opened  many  a  door.  All 
were  men  of  intellectual  power  and  literary  ability. 
Dr.  Hepburn's  dictionary  brought  many  to  him  for  in- 
struction. Portions  of  the  Bible  were  translated  and  a 
considerable  sale  for  them  was  found.  Chinese  books  were 
introduced  for  the  educated  Japanese,  who  all  read  that 
language,  and  W.  A.  P.  Martin's  "  Evidences  of  Chris- 
tianity "  and  tens  of  thousands  of  other  books  found  their 
way  into  Japanese  minds  and  hearts.  But  perhaps  most 
potent  of  all  were  the  marvellous  tact  and  skill  with  which 
they  gathered  around  them  the  Japanese  youth.  Dr.  Ver- 
beck  taught  them  English  science,  history,  anything  they 
wanted  to  learn,  while  all  the  time  he  was  impressing 
upon  them  the  power  of  the  faith  that  dominated  his  life. 
Many  of  these  young  men  belonged  to  the  class  that  fur- 
nished the  leaders,  and  when  in  1870  plans  were 
desired  for  an  imperial  university  at  Tokyo  (superseding 
the  old  Yedo),  he  was  called  to  organize  a  scheme 
for  national  education.  Largely  under  the  influence  of 
S.  R.  Brown,  an  embassy  was  sent  to  visit  Western 
countries  and  study  Western  civilization,  and  it  appeared 
that  half  of  its  members  had  been  Verbeck's  students  at 
Nagasaki. 

Then  came  the  rush  from  the  West.  England,  France, 
Germany,  Holland  sent  financiers,  engineers,  mechanics, 
artisans,  but  it  was  left  chiefly  to  America,  largely  under 
the  influence  of  these  missionaries,  to  furnish  the  teachers. 
In  1869  came  the  new  force  of  missionaries  led  by 
D.  C.  Greene  of  the  American  Board,  until  scarcely  a 
Church  in  the  United  States  but  had  its  representatives. 
Others  loo,  not  carrying  the  commission  of  a  society,  but 


Japan  303 

none  the  less  true  missionaries,  added  their  quota  to  the 
**  Educational  Conquest  of  the  East." 

Development. — Meanwhile  another  force  was  ap- 
pearing. In  1864  Joseph  Neesima,  who  had  learned  his 
first  lessons  in  Christianity  from  the  Russian  missionary, 
later  Bishop  Nikolai,  escaped  from  Hakodate  to  Shanghai, 
and  worked  his  way  to  Boston,  where  he  met  Alpheus 
Hardy,  who  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  young  Japanese. 
A  thorough  education,  contact  with  the  best  phases  of 
American  Christian  life,  and  the  sympathy  of  hosts  of 
personal  friends,  equipped  him  for  the  great  work  of  his 
life,  the  founding  of  a  distinctively  Christian  Japanese 
university,  the  Doshisha.  It  was  a  daring  scheme  to 
start  a  Christian  school  in  the  very  heart  of  the  empire, 
to  invade  the  sacred  city,  Kyoto,  with  its  3,500  temples 
and  8,000  Buddhist  priests,  but  Neesima  was  of  the  same 
stuff  as  the  generals  and  admirals  of  Japan's  later  wars, 
and  he  had  an  associate  in  Colonel  Davis,  a  veteran  of 
the  American  civil  war.  In  1875  the  school  opened  with 
eight  pupils  and  two  teachers,  and  gave  the  impulse  to 
Japanese  Christian  education,  through  its  thousands  of 
students  and  teachers,  many  of  whom  have  held  high 
place  in  Japan's  history. 

Already  in  1872  the  first  Japanese  church  had  been 
formed  with  nine  young  men  and  two  middle  aged  men  as 
members,  while  in  187^  two  more  churches  were  organ- 
ized. This  had  not  been  without  bitter  opposition,  and 
the  Buddhist  priests  especially  did  all  in  their  power  to 
weaken  the  force  of  the  Christian  appeal.  That  power 
however  was  waning.  They  awoke  one  day  to  find  the 
placards  that  for  two  and  a  half  centuries  had  proclaimed 
the  hostility  of  Japan  to  the  religion  of  Jesus  gone  from 
their   places.     Suave   and    plausible    explanations   were 


304  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

given,  but  they  and  Japan  knew   that  a  new  era  had 
dawned. 

The  twenty  years  following  the  revolution  that  placed 
the  mikado  in  reality  as  well  as  in  name  upon  the  throne, 
saw  a  marvellous  advance,  until  in  1S89  there  were  not 
far  from  30,000  communicants  in  the  Protestant  churches 
alone.  The  interest  in  America  and  England  grew  in- 
tense, urgent  appeals  were  made  for  more  missionaries  and 
many  claimed  that  the  empire  was  on  the  very  point  of 
becoming  Christian.  At  this  time  however  came  a  period 
of  reaction,  manifest  in  every  department  of  Japanese 
life. 

In  national  matters  the  attitude  of  the  foreign  powers 
towards  the  government  was  irritating  in  the  extreme. 
The  earlier  treaties,  as  in  the  case  of  China,  included 
exterritoriality  clauses,  removing  foreigners  from  the 
control  of  the  Japanese  courts.  With  the  introduction 
of  the  Napoleon  Code,  and  many  of  the  features  of 
Western  civilization,  this  was  felt  to  be  degrading,  and 
efforts  were  made  to  secure  a  revision  of  the  treaties. 
The  Western  governments  however  were  too  dazed  with 
the  meteoric  change  to  realize  the  true  situation,  and  were 
not  even  convinced  by  the  proclamation  of  the  consti- 
tution of  1890,  that  it  was  safe  to  relax  any  of  their  pre- 
cautions in  dealing  with  what  was  still  felt  to  be  an 
Asiatic  nation.  Even  the  coronation  oath  of  the 
mikado,  promising  representative  government  for  the 
people,  and  exhorting  all  to  seek  throughout  the  world 
for  knowledge,  one  of  the  greatest  coronation  oaths  ever 
taken,  was  scarcely  accepted  seriously,  but  looked  upon 
as  a  political  move.  The  result  was  an  increasing  bitter- 
ness on  the  part  of  the  Japanese  of  every  class,  emphasized 
by  the  return  home  of  those  who  had  studied  abroad 


Japan  305 

and  were  fully  convinced  of  their  own  absolute,  or  at  least 
potential,  equality  with  the  rest  of  the  world.  It  was 
inevitable  that  this  should  affect  the  Christian  community. 
It  manifested  itself  first  in  a  restiveness  under  what  was 
felt  to  be  the  restraining  influence  of  the  missionaries, 
and  a  determination  to  guide  the  action  of  the  churches 
according  to  their  own  id-eas ;  then  in  a  criticism  of 
Protestant  creeds  as  not  adapted  to  the  Japanese  needs  ; 
and  finally  in  a  falling  off  of  additions  to  the  churches, 
and  of  the  general  activities  of  the  communities. 

Denominational  Movements. — The  missionary 
situation  was  indeed  complex  and  perplexing.  The 
first  missionaries,'  Presbyterian,  Reformed,  and  Epis- 
copal, represented  the  more  centralized  •  forms  of  church 
government,  the  more  definite  statements  of  church  be- 
lief. As  the  former  organized  their  first  local  church, 
however,  they  left  large  liberty  to  its  members,  preferring 
to  emphasize  the  substance  of  faith  rather  than  the  ex- 
pression of  belief.  Then  came  the  Congregational  mis- 
sionaries, with  more  flexible  organization  and  creed,  and 
with  them  a  Japanese,  Neesima,  fully  imbued  with  the 
idea  of  independent,  individual  development.  These 
were  followed  by  the  Methodists  and  Baptists,  with  their 
distinctive  church  organizations.  The  six  Presbyterian 
and  Reformed  missions  joined  forces  so  far  as  the  organi- 
zation of  native  churcnes  was  concerned,  and  the  Epis- 
copalians did  the  same.  Efforts  to  bring  the  Methodist 
bodies  together  failed.  The  result  was  a  sort  of  kaleido- 
scopic Christianity,  which  to  many  of  the  Japanese,  with 
their  love  for  a  concentrated  government  and  desire  for 
a  national  belief  and  worship,  was  confusing  and  dis- 
appointing, although  some  welcomed  it. 

In  the  second  period,  as  the  evils  of  denominational 


306  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

differences  became  more  evident,  there  were  earnest 
efforts  to  mitigate  them  by  still  more  union  between  the 
different  bodies.  The  United  Church  of  Christ  (Presby- 
terian) and  the  Kumi-ai  churches  (Congregational)  were 
urged  to  come  together.  The  movement  was  cordially 
indorsed  by  almost  all  of  the  missionaries,  as  well  as  by 
a  large  number  of  the  native  pastors.  There  was  some 
opposition  in  America  on  both  sides,  the  one  dreading 
what  was  held  to  be  the  looseness  of  the  Congregational 
organization  and  the  vagueness  of  its  creed,  the  other 
fearing  that  the  result  would  be  a  loss  of  individuality. 
Neesima  threw  his  strong  influence  against  union,  not  so 
much  because  of  fear  as  because  he  felt  that  the  Con- 
gregational system  was  needed  to  counteract  the  tendency 
of  the  people  to  lose  their  individuality  and  become  mere 
tools  of  an  organization.  He  realized  their  intense 
national  feelings ;  the  hostility  to  even  the  semblance 
of  foreign  domination ;  the  strange  blending  of  independ- 
ence with  dependence,  making  individuals  confident  of 
their  own  wisdom,  yet  too  often  unwilling  to  stand  alone 
in  the  expression  of  conviction ;  the  quick  intelligence, 
grasping,  if  not  comprehending,  various  phases  of  truth. 
So  also  the  fact  that  the  early  converts,  especially  in  the 
Congregational  and  Presbyterian  churches,  were  chiefly 
from  the  samurai  or  aristocratic  class,  accustomed  to 
lead  and  not  likely  to  submit  to  dictation — all  combined 
to  make  the  path  to  be  followed  obscure  and  full  of 
danger.  The  earlier  missionaries  were  looked  up  to  and 
revered  as  instructors  and  leaders,  and  their  influence 
was  almost  unlimited.  They  used  this  in  a  very  tactful 
way,  seeking  to  guide  rather  tlian  control.  The  fact  that 
they  were  few  in  number  also  helped  them  to  magnify 
the  personal  element. 


Japan  307 

Native  Leaders. — As  the  number  of  missionaries 
and  also  of  educated  native  preachers  increased,  two 
results  appeared :  the  personal  influence  was  over- 
shadowed by  that  of  the  mission  as  an  organized  body ; 
and  the  younger  missionaries  were  not  regarded  with  the 
same  deference  by  the  natives,  especially  by  some  who, 
having  studied  in  America  or  Europe,  considered  them- 
selves fully  as  well  educated  as  any  of  the  foreigners, 
and,  by  their  Japanese  birth,  more  competent  to  direct. 
The  inevitable  result  was  a  clash  of  views  in  regard  to 
many  matters  affecting  the  development  of  the  churches. 
It  was  not  so  much  that  there  was  personal  hostility,  but 
the  native  pastors  and  leaders  believed  that  they  knew 
better  what  was  needed  than  men  who,  fresh  from 
foreign  countries,  yet  had  an  equal  voice  with  those  of 
longer  experience.  The  American  Board  mission,  as  was 
natural,  felt  this  the  most,  because  of  the  large  number 
of  churches  connected  with  it  and  its  emphasis  of  in- 
dividuality. Next  came  the  Presbyterians.  Other  de- 
nominations felt  it  in  a  more  limited  degree,  partly  be- 
cause they  had  a  smaller  proportion  of  men  from  the 
samurai  order  in  their  membership. 

The  Native  Church. — Two  particular  manifestations 
of  this  diversity  of  views  deserve  special  mention.  With 
the  organization  of  the  first  churches  it  had  been  recog- 
nized by  the  leading  Japanese  as  well  as  by  the  mission- 
aries that  a  most  important  condition  of  a  successful 
Christian  church  must  be  that  it  be  self-directing  and 
self-supporting.  There  were  the  usual  difficulties  in  the 
way  :  small  communities  unable  to  give  largely ;  the  idea 
that  foreign  money  was  plentiful  and  might  as  well  be 
used,  especially  to  relieve  the  poor ;  the  contrast  between 
a  mercenary  Buddhism  and  a  free  gospel.     Still,  as  the 


308  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

communities  increased  in  size,  the  question  was  met 
frankly  and,  in  the  main,  with  success.  More  serious, 
however,  was  the  question  as  to  the  use  of  foreign  money 
which  came  in  aid  or  as  endowment  of  institutions  which, 
while  under  missionary  auspices,  were  looked  upon  as 
distinctively  Japanese.  Many  of  the  Japanese  felt  that, 
as  the  money  was  really  for  them,  and  they  knew  best 
how  to  use  it,  they  should  have  the  absolute  control  over  it. 
At  the  same  time  the  creed  question,  already  referred 
to,  grew  in  prominence.  The  Japanese  recognized  the 
exclusiveness  of  Christianity,  but  claimed  that  it  must 
put  on  a  different  garb,  at  least  in  Japan,  from  what  it 
wears  in  Western  lands,  or  even  across  the  China  Sea. 
This  feeling  was  strengthened  by  the  diversities  in 
Western  creeds  as  represented  by  the  missionary  societies, 
including  of  later  years  the  Unitarians  and  Universalists, 
and  as  learned  by  Japanese  in  study  in  America  and 
Europe.  If  there  could  be  Episcopalian,  Presbyterian, 
Congregational,  and  other  creeds,  even  a  Unitarian,  why 
might  there  not  be  a  distinctive  Japanese  creed,  contain- 
ing the  substance  of  all  these,  but  differing  from  all,  even 
as  they  differ  from  one  another.  Recognizing  the  various 
national  characteristics,  the  missionaries  sought  to  guide 
rather  than  control  in  this  as  in  other  matters;  anxiousto 
preserve  the  substance,  confident  that  with  the  develop- 
ment of  Christian  life  Christian  thought  would  not  go  far 
wrong,  while  at  the  same  time  realizing  that  thought 
must  to  a  great  degree  direct  the  trend  of  life.  Here, 
too,  the  bodies  that  felt  the  difficulty  most  seriously  were 
the  Congregational  and  Presbyterian.  The  United 
Church  of  Christ,  after  much  discussion,  adopted  a  creed 
which  met  the  exigency  well.  The  Kumi-ai  churches 
were  a  little  more  liberal,  but  strictly  evangelical.     Then 


Japan  309 

arose  another  difficulty.  How  far  were  these  to  control 
their  own  members  ?  Instances  developed  of  divers  in- 
terpretations of  these  creeds.  What  liberty  was  allow- 
able ? 

Reaction. — Both  in  the  question  of  management  of 
property  and  the  subscription  to,  or  adoption  of  a  creed, 
the  Doshisha  proved  to 'be  the  storm  center.  True  to 
his  purpose  of  self-development  of  his  people,  even 
at  some  risk,  Neesima  had  insisted  that  the  institution 
be  in  the  hands  of  Japanese  trustees,  and  with  the  cor- 
dial approval  of  Colonel  Davis,  carried  his  point.  He 
never  failed  to  recognize  the  counter  obligations,  and 
thought  that  they  were  sufficiently  safeguarded.  His 
death  in  1889  removed  a  great  restraining  influence,  and 
with  the  tide  of  reaction  against  what  it  was  feared 
would  prove  undue  foreign  influence,  the  university  was 
carried  to  an  extreme.  The  trustees  claimed  control  of 
the  entire  property  and  placed  in  teaching  authority  men, 
who  while  recognized  as  Christian  men,  were  of  a  type 
quite  different  from  its  founder.  For  a  time  it  seemed  as 
if  the  work  of  years  had  been  for  naught.  A  few,  how- 
ever, held  firm  to  their  faith  in  the  fundamental  charac- 
ter of  the  Japanese  churches,  and  the  event  proved  them 
correct. 

The  churches  had  no  thought  of  denying  Christianity. 
Their  purpose  simply  was  to  illustrate  Japanese  as  distinct 
from  American  Christianity.  One  of  the  first  things 
done  in  1895  by  the  Kumi-ai  churches  was  to  declare 
their  independence  of  foreign  financial  aid,  and  to  put 
their  Home  Missionary  Society  on  a  distinctively 
Japanese  basis.  This  resulted  in  a  fuller  investigation  as 
to  what  constituted  true,  successful,  self- propagating 
church   life,  and  little  by  litde  the  exuberant  claims  of 


310  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

some  of  the  leaders  were  discounted,  the  value  of  mis- 
sionary help  was  recognized  again,  and  while  the  old  con- 
ditions were  not  restored,  new  conditions  were  taking 
their  place  which  by  most  were  recognized  as  far  more 
valuable. 

The  experiences  of  the  other  churches  were  not  dis- 
similar, though  less  strenuous,  and  out  of  them  came  in- 
creasing strength.  The  Meiji  Gakuin  (Presbyterian), 
and  Aoyama  Gakuin  (Methodist),  stood  for  the  highest 
type  of  Christian  education,  and  the  Methodist  Church 
of  Japan,  with  its  Japanese  bishop,  uniting  all  the  different 
branches  of  Methodism  in  the  empire,  is  an  eloquent  wit- 
ness to  the  wisdom  and  strength  of  those  who  guided 
through  the  times  of  storm  and  stress. 

Later  Developments. — About  the  same  time  came 
the  war  with  China  (1894).  Much  of  the  opposition  to 
Christianity  had  been  based  on  the  assumption  that  it 
denationalized  its  converts.  It  became  evident  that 
Christian  Japanese  could  fight  as  bravely  as  Buddhist 
Japanese.  The  missionaries  took  advantage  of  the  op- 
portunities to  show  their  sympathy  with  patriotic  sacri- 
fice. The  following  ten  years  were  years  of  intensest 
activity  in  every  department  of  the  national  life.  With 
the  development  within  came  improved  relations  with- 
out. The  treaties  were  revised.  England  stepped  to  the 
front  and  formed  an  alliance  with  the  new  empire.  Old 
occasions  for  bitterness  disappeared,  and  in  place  of 
them  came  new  expressions  of  sympathy.  Education 
was  advanced  on  every  hand.  Work  for  women  pro- 
gressed at  a  marvellous  rate.  Western  ideas  as  well  as 
Western  customs  came  pouring  in,  yet  all  seemed  to  find 
their  own  assimilation,  rather  than  a  displacement  of  dis- 
tinctively national  characteristics. 


Japan  3 1 i 

The  mission  work  shared  in  the  new  life.  Missionaries 
indeed  were  less  superintendents  than  before,  but  they 
were  still  advisers,  and  they  became  to  a  degree  impos- 
sible hitherto  the  much  needed  evangelists.  For  the  first 
time  the  land  was  open,  and  north  and  south,  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  empire  they  went,  laying  foundations 
on  which  their  fellow  Japanese  ministers  built  strong 
churches.  Doctrinal  questions  subsided,  crowded  out 
by  the  necessity  of  preaching  the  gospel.  Property  took 
care  of  itself.  Not  that  there  was  no  discussion  or  di- 
vergence of  views.  Not  a  few  shook  their  heads  feeling 
that  the  day  of- the  missionary  was  past.  Others  smiled 
and  said  that  the  missionary's  day  was  just  dawning. 

Then  came  the  war  with  Russia.  The  world  looked 
on.  What  would  be  the  outcome  !  Whatever  the  out- 
come the  opportunity  was  there.  The  Japanese  were  un- 
der no  illusions.  They  knew  the  full  nature  of  the 
struggle  on  which  they  were  entering ;  knew  that  it  was 
one  of  life  or  death.  They  had  faith  in  themselves,  but 
none  the  less  did  they  value  sympathy.  This  was  Chris- 
tianity's opportunity.  In  the  camps,  at  home,  on  the 
battle-field,  Christian  men  were  in  the  van.  With  a  Chris- 
tian admiral  to  lead  her  fleets,  a  Christian  American  mis- 
sionary to  lead  in  prayer  to  the  God  of  battles.  Christian 
women  to  care  for  wounded  and  sorrowing,  it  be- 
came evident  that  a  Christian  Japan  might  not  be  less 
Japanese  than  the  old  dreams  of  the  samurai.  The  story 
of  those  times  is  not  for  these  pages,  but  it  should  be 
read  and  pondered  by  every  student  who  would  know 
what  Christian  missions  mean  to  a  nation  coming  into 
the  light. 

Even  a  brief  survey  of  the  years  since  is  beyond  our 
limits.     One  event  stands  out  as  the  type  of  th^  new  life. 


312  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

In  April,  1907,  there  assembled  in  Tokyo  the  first  Inter- 
national Convention  ever  held  in  the  Far  East.  It  was 
not  political,  not  scientific,  not  even  educational,  but 
religious  ;  the  Conference  of  the  World's  Student  Chris- 
tian Federation.  About  seven  hundred  students,  repre- 
senting twenty-five  different  countries,  met  to  consider 
the  interests  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  student  world. 
Its  chairman  was  Dr.  Karl  Fries  of  Sweden ;  its  vice- 
chairman  the  new  bishop  of  the  Methodist  Church  of 
Japan,  Yoitsu  Honda.  Marquis  Ito,  Count  Okuma, 
Viscount  Hayashi,  representatives  of  high  station  in 
national  and  civic  life,  united  in  words  of  welcome,  rec- 
ognizing each  one  the  peculiar  purpose  and  spirit  of  the 
Conference,  and  hailing  its  coming  as  the  earnest  of  still 
closer  relations,  spiritual  as  well  as  material,  between  the 
East  and  West.  For  five  days,  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  building  was  crowded  as  one  after  an- 
other the  great  themes  of  the  Christian  life,  particularly  in 
their  relation  to  students,  were  discussed.  Especially 
notable  was  the  welcome  from  the  national  leaders  in 
administration,  education  and  religion.  Buddhist  and 
Shinto  priests  joined  in  their  words  of  recognition  of  the 
value  to  their  people  of  the  work  of  this  movement,  and 
then  convened  to  devise  means  by  which  they  could 
prevent  their  young  men  from  being  carried  en  masse  into 
Christianity.  Significant  too  was  the  presence  of  thou- 
sands of  Chinese  young  men,  who  had  come  under  the 
impulse  of  the  wave  of  new  life  and  thought  to  learn  of 
Japan  what  it  was  that  gave  strength  for  the  victory  over 
Russia.  Japanese  Christians  realize  the  opportunity  and 
the  responsibility.  They  are  coming  too  to  understand 
that  but  the  very  fringes  of  the  nation  have  yet  been 
touched,  and  as  they  give  themselves  to  the  task  before 


Japan  313 

them,  they  look  to  the  cliurches  of  the  West  for  the  assist- 
ance they  so  sorely  need.  Least  of  all  do  they  share  in 
the  visions  of  empire  extension  attributed,  and  not  un- 
reasonably, to  some  of  their  journals.  Now  is  the  time 
for  America  and  England,  with  wise  sympathy  and  cor- 
dial cooperation,  to  join  with  them  to  complete  what 
has  been  so  well  begun. 


\ 


XIX 

KOREA 

IN  1883,  President  John  F.  Goucher,  of  Baltimore, 
offered  $5,000  for  a  site  and  the  initial  expense  of 
a  mission  in  Korea.  It  was  a  venture  such  as  busi- 
ness men  are  constantly  making  in  financial  matters,  but 
seldom  in  religious  matters.  At  that  time  very  little  was 
known  about  the  country.  It  was  generally  understood 
to  be  a  sort  of  appendage  to  China ;  tributary  in  fact,  if 
not  in  form,  much  as  Tibet  was.  Political  geographers 
called  attention  to  its  singular  position  in  a  corner  be- 
tween China,  Russia  and  Japan,  and  prophesied  that 
when  those  empires  awakened  out  of  their  sleep  they 
would — want  Korea.  Whether  Korea  would  yield  to 
their  wants,  no  one  could  tell,  but  there  was  also  a  gen- 
eral impression  that  any  resistance  she  nn'ght  make  would 
be  little  more  than  perfunctory,  and  that  sooner  or  later 
Korea  would  disappear  from  the  map,  but  what  would 
take  its  place  few  if  any  cared  to  prophesy. 

There  was  not  very  much  that  was  inviting  about  the 
people  or  their  land.  Rugged  and  mountainous,  its 
ranges  largely  denuded  of  forests  ;  its  eastern  shores  bar- 
ren in  aspect,  its  western  with  large  stretches  left  bare 
when  the  phenomenally  high  tides  ebbed  ;  it  presented  lit- 
tle that  was  attractive.  Inland  however  were  fertile 
meadows,  rich  mines,  profuse  vegetation,  and  a  climate 
as  "fine  and  healthy  as  any  in  the  world."  It  was  the 
people  that  always  repelled  the  few  who  had  come  into 

314 


Korea  315 

more  or  less  of  contact  with  the  nation.  They  seemed 
lazy,  even  for  Orientals ;  generally  dishonest,  unclean  in 
person,  rather  the  left-overs  of  Asia,  as  if  Mongols, 
Chinese  and  others  had  successively  sought  to  escape 
from  oppression  in  their  own  lands,  and  going  as  far  as 
they  could,  found  themselves  shut  in  by  the  sea  in  this 
rocky  peninsula.  Avoiding  all,  they  became  an  absolute 
monarchy,  known  as  the  **  Hermit  Nation,"  though  their 
land  was  called  <'The  Land  of  the  Morning  Calm." 
Their  language,  Mongolian  at  base,  yet  modified  by 
Chinese  in  the  north  and  Japanese  in  the  south,  had  a 
distinct  individuality,  both  in  form  and  character.  Their 
religion  had  been  a  conglomerate  of  tribal  superstitions, 
until  Buddhism,  in  the  years  of  its  missionary  activity, 
entered  the  land,  filling  it  with  monasteries  to  which  were 
gathered  men  of  every  class.  Subsequently  with  more  of 
contact  with  China,  Confucianism  overpowered  the  al- 
ready decadent  Buddhism.  Confucian  ethics  however, 
even  though  followed  more  rigidly  than  in  China,  could 
not  satisfy  a  certain  element  in  the  Korean  nature  which 
called  for  religion.  Knowing  nothing  better  they 
adopted,  or  perhaps  inherited  through  the  ages,  a  spirit 
worship,  demonism  or  Shamanism,  whose  priestesses  held 
the  nation  in  bondage  to  fetishes  of  the  most  grotesque 
types. 

Roman  Catholic  Missions. — Korea's  first  acquaint- 
ance with  Christianity  was  through  some  members  of  the 
Korean  legation  at  Peking,  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  who  met  Roman  Catholic  mission- 
aries. They  were  attracted  to  the  new  faith,  and  on 
their  return  carried  it  with  them.  It  took  root  almost 
immediately,  and  spread  rapidly,  providing  as  it  did  some- 
thing more  satisfactory  than  Confucianism,  and  of  far 


316  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

higher  grade  than  the  fetish  worship.  The  priesthood 
who  found  their  gains  endangered,  incited  persecution, 
and  a  large  number  of  Christians  were  killed.  In  1835, 
two  missionaries  found  their  way  back,  and  their  work  in- 
creased, with  varying  periods  of  oppression,  until  in  1864 
the  government  came  into  the  hands  of  a  regent  bitterly 
opposed  to  all  foreign  religion  and  foreign  customs. 
Then  followed  a  crusade.  The  Roman  Catholic  bishop 
and  several  associates  were  seized  and  put  to  death,  and 
an  inquisition  rivalling  that  of  Spain  bade  fair  to  exter- 
minate Christianity  altogether.  In  some  localities  whole 
communities  were  put  to  the  sword.  The  effect  was  both 
to  destroy  the  power  of  the  Catholics,  and  create  a  gen- 
eral revulsion  against  everything  foreign.  The  nation  be- 
came more  *'  hermit  "  than  ever. 

It  was  during  this  time  of  outbreak  that  an  American 
ship  was  stranded  by  the  receding  tide  and  the  crew  mur- 
dered ;  and  in  1870  an  American  embassy  visited  the 
capital  to  secure  redress  but  failed.  Then  came  Japan 
in  1876,  and  succeeded  in  making  a  treaty  of  trade,  but 
there  was  still  very  little  intercourse.  The  door  once 
opened  could  not  be  absolutely  closed,  and  there  fol- 
lowed a  treaty  with  China  and  one  with  the  United 
States  in  1882,  while  Great  Britain  and  Germany  entered- 
into  relations  with  the  kingdom  in  1883,  Russia  in  1884 
and  France  in  1886. 

Protestant  Missions. — Among  the  notable  missions 
of  Asia  has  been  that  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Scotland  in  Manchuria.  John  Ross,  one  of  the  pio- 
neers of  missions  had  opened  a  station  at  Mukden,  and 
toured  through  the  entire  province.  Coming  to  the  bor- 
ders of  Korea  at  the  historic  Yalu  River,  he  became  in- 
terested in  the  people,  and  with  his  associates  commenced 


Korea  317 

work  among  them.  Portions  of  the  Gospel  of  Luke  were 
translated  and  eventually  the  entire  New  Testament. 
Copies  were  introduced  into  the  country  by  means  of 
Korean  merchants,  and  occasionally  the  missionaries 
themselves,  though  at  great  risk,  succeeded  in  crossing 
the  border. 

For  seven  years  this  work  went  on.  In  1880,  a  Korean 
member  of  the  legation  at  Tokyo,  met  American  mis- 
sionaries, accepted  Christianity,  and  urged  that  mission- 
aries be  sent  to  his  country.  It  was  in  response  to  this 
appeal  that  President  Goucher's  offer  was  made  to  the 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
That  Society  commissioned  Rev.  R.  S.  Maclay,  one  of 
its  missionaries  in  Japan,  to  visit  Korea,  and  on  his 
favourable  report  the  mission  was  inaugurated  in  1885. 
Meanwhile  the  Presbyterian  Board  had  commissioned 
Rev.  J.  W.  Heron,  M.  D.,  who,  however,  was  delayed, 
but  in  his  place  went  Dr.  H.  N.  Allen,  of  China,  who 
arrived  in  the  autumn.  As  a  physician  he  was  imme- 
diately appointed  on  the  staff  of  the  American  legation, 
thus  insuring  his  safe  residence  in  Seoul,  where  the  anti- 
foreign  feeling  was  still  very  strong.  His  arrival  could 
scarcely  have  been  timed  better,  had  all  things  been 
known,  and  is  but  one  of  numerous  instances  of  the  over- 
ruling Providence  that  controls  and  guides  human  action. 

The  intense  conservatism  of  the  regent  had  aroused  the 
bitter  hostility  of  a  party  of  reform.  With  this  party  the 
queen  was  in  hearty  sympathy,  a  fact  bitterly  resented  by 
the  conservatives,  whom  she  had  outmanoeuvered.  In 
1884  the  leader  of  the  reform  party,  Kim  Ok  Kiun, 
learning  that  a  plan  was  formed  to  assassinate  him  and 
his  associates,  resolved  to  forestall  the  plot.  On  the 
occasion  of  the  opening  of  the  Korean  post-office,  they 


318  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

attacked  the  conservatives,  murdered  a  number  of  the 
leaders  and  seriously  wounded  one,  a  cousin  of  the  queen 
and  one  of  the  most  influential  men  in  the  kingdom. 
Dr.  Allen's  services  were  offered,  the  wounded  man  suc- 
cessfully treated  and  the  gratitude  to  the  American  sur- 
geon knew  no  bounds.  The  story  of  the  next  decade  is 
one  very  like  that  of  other  missions,  except  in  two  par- 
ticulars. From  the  very  first,  the  missionaries  represent- 
ing both  Presbyterian  and  Methodist  societies,  from 
the  United  States,  Canada  and  Australia,  worked  together 
as  one  company,  seeking  to  avoid  all  interference,  and 
particularly  to  arrange  the  occupation  of  new  places  so  as 
to  accomplish  the  most  possible  with  the  means  and  the 
force  available.  They  made  a  careful  study  of  the  peo- 
ple, their  characteristics,  their  good  and  weak  points ;  and 
also  studied  the  methods  adopted  elsewhere,  determined, 
if  possible,  to  avoid  the  hindrances  that  had  been  felt  in 
China.  Especially  helpful  was  the  visit  of  Dr.  John  L. 
Nevius,  the  veteran  missionary  of  Shantung.  Dr.  Nevius 
had  long  felt  that  there  was  danger  of  too  much  mission- 
ary superintendence,  and  especially  assistance;  that  the 
native  Christians  should  be  not  only  encouraged  but  com- 
pelled to  assume  responsibilities,  and  that  the  churches 
should  likewise  be  pressed  to  full  self-support,  using  such 
material  for  leadership  as  they  had  without  waiting  for 
full  training. 

Political  Influences. — In  few  countries  have  the  polit- 
ical developments  had  more  intimate  relations  with  mis- 
sion history  than  in  Korea.  The  timely  service  of 
Dr.  Allen  secured  the  favour  of  the  government,  es- 
pecially for  medical  work,  and  Dr.  Allen's  influence  was 
very  great.  From  the  time  of  the  attack  by  the  reform 
party  in  1884  the  general  situation  grew  worse  in  almost 


Korea  319 

every  respect.  The  court  was  corrupt,  and  that  corrup- 
tion spread  through  the  nation.  Ten  years  later  Kim 
Ok  Kiun,  who  had  escaped  to  Japan,  was  enticed  to 
Shanghai  by  some  Koreans  and  murdered.  About  the 
same  time  there  arose  in  Korea  what  was  known  as  the 
Tong  Hak  rebeUion,  a  n^ovement  not  unHke  the  Boxer 
movement  in  China,  having  for  its  special  purpose  the 
absolute  elimination  of  Western  ideas  and  influences 
from  the  life  of  the  nation.  So  powerful  did  it  become 
that  the  king  called  in  the  aid  of  China.  With  the  ar- 
rival of  fifteen  hundred  troops  the  rebellion  collapsed, 
but  a  special  guard  of  Chinese  soldiers  went  to  Seoul  as 
a  body-guard  to  the  king.  This  aroused  the  anger  of 
Japan  who  claimed  that,  in  accordance  with  the  treaty, 
where  Chinese  soldiers  went,  Japanese  soldiers  should  go 
also.  Accordingly  an  army  of  five  thousand  was  landed, 
fifteen  hundred  marching  to  the  capital.  Without  further 
detail,  out  of  this  grew  the  China- Japan  war  leaving 
Korea  practically  under  the  authority  of  Japan. 

Then  commenced  the  period  of  progressiveness.  At  that 
lime  Japan  was  itself  in  the  rush  of  political  development, 
and  it  has  been  claimed  that  one  reason  for  the  course 
adopted  in  Korea  was  that  public  attention  might  be  di- 
verted. In  any  case  there  was  opportunity  for  new  de- 
velopments. Among  these  was  the  proclamation  of  the 
king  as  emperor  with  a  view  to  emphasizing  his  author- 
ity. Another  -was  the  organization  of  the  Independence 
Club.  The  latter  was  one  of  the  most  powerful  influ- 
ences of  the  time,  and  while  not  distinctively  Christian, 
owed  its  character  chiefly  to  the  Christian  element.  The 
Korean  Christian  was  thoroughly  loyal,  instanced  by  the 
custom  of  raising  the  national  flag  over  churches  and 
houses  on  Sunday.     In  the  turmoil  of  the  times,  then  and 


320  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

since,  there  has  been  danger  of  using  the  new  faitli  as  a 
political  lever,  and  some  of  the  young  people's  societies 
were  afterwards  disbanded  because  of  the  political  use 
that  was  made  of  their  organization.  Still  much  good 
was  done,  and  the  purpose  of  this  club,  educational  in 
its  inception  rather  than  political,  was  such  as  would 
naturally  draw  to  it  the  more  aggressive  of  the  community. 
The  fact  too  that  Dr.  Allen  was  long  the  United  States 
Minister  at  Seoul,  and  exerted  his  influence,  so  far  as 
was  possible  or  wise,  in  behalf  of  reform,  gave  additional 
strength  to  the  position  of  the  Christian  community.  It 
was  significant  of  the  situation  that  at  the  laying  of  the 
corner-stone  of  the  Independence  Arch,  built  to  com- 
memorate the  deliverance  of  the  country  from  political 
subjection  to  China,  a  missionary,  Rev.  H.  G.  Appen- 
zeller,  was  invited  to  offer  prayer.  It  was  scarcely  pos- 
sible, however,  to  preserve  a  non-political  attitude  so  far 
as  not  to  arouse  bitter  antagonisms,  and  subsequently  the 
club  was  disbanded  because  of  its  political  activity. 

The  story  of  the  next  ten  years  is  too  intricate  for  these 
pages.  The  murder  of  the  queen  ;  the  imprisonment  of 
tlie  king  by  a  band  led  by  his  own  father,  the  former 
regent,  and  practically  if  not  positively  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Japanese ;  the  escape  to  the  Russian  legation, 
and  the  destruction  of  Japanese  influence ;  the  war  be- 
tween Japan  and  Russia,  in  which  Korea  was  battle 
ground  and  marching  ground  for  the  two  armies;  all 
form  a  story  of  imperial  aggression,  iniquitous  and  selfish 
politics,  such  as  few  countries  have  experienced.  The 
result  of  the  war  left  Korea  in  the  absolute  power  of 
Japan.  China  had  been  defeated,  Russia  hurled  back 
into  her  own  territory  ;  now  was  the  opportunity  to  recover 
what  was  lost  when  the  queen  was  murdered.    That  a  stable 


Korea  321 

government  was  needed  was  evident ;  that  such  a  govern- 
ment would  not,  p'erhaps  could  not,  be  furnished  by  the 
Koreans,  was  affirmed  by  many,  most  loudly  by  the 
Japanese  themselves,  who  sent  their  strongest  administra- 
tor, Marquis  Ito,  tcf  transform  the  erstwhile  kingdom 
into  a  Japanese  province. .  The  Koreans  looked  on  with 
dismay,  but  helpless.  It  is  scarcely  surprising,  keeping 
in  mind  the  repetitions  of  history,  that  they  should  turn 
as  never  before  to  the  only  ones  who  had  never  failed 
them.  From  the  time  of  Dr.  Allen's  first  surgical  opera- 
tion the  Koreans  had  felt  that  the  missionaries  were  sympa- 
thetic with  them.  With  marvellous  tact,  patience  and 
wisdom  they  had  escaped  embroilment  in  the  political 
disturbances,  and  at  the  same  time  had  never  lost  the 
confidence  of  the  people. 

They  were  ready  for  the  gospel.  Buddhism,  with  its 
shaven  priests  they  despised.  Confucianism  was  identi- 
fied with  their  oppressors,  whether  Chinese  or  Japanese. 
The  Christianity  of  the  men  and  women  who  had  suc- 
coured them  in  their  distress,  healed  their  diseases,  never 
failed  them  in  any  emergency,  grew  more  and  more  to 
be  desired  in  their  sight.  Furthermore,  it  had  come  to 
them,  not  as  a  foreign  religion.  They  had  built  their 
own  churches  and  scliools,  were  led  by  their  own 
preachers  and  teacher"^  not  so  far  removed  from  them  as 
to  seem  of  another  grade.  They  were  encouraged  to  use 
their  own  language,  to  adopt  their  own  forms  of  worship, 
to  phrase  their  own  beliefs : — to  have  a  church  truly 
Korean.  More  simple-hearted  than  their  new  masters, 
less  dogged  in  their  conservatism  than  their  old  ones, 
the  story  of  the  gospel  as  told  appealed  to  them. 
The  result  is  to-day  the  marvel  of  the  Christian 
world. 


322  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Methods. —  The  general  principles  controlling  in  the 
development  of  the  work  were  stated  very  clearly  by 
H.  G.  Underwood,  D.  D.,  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission, 
at  the  Ecumenical  Conference  in  1900,  and  may  be  sum- 
marized as  follows : 

1.  The  organized  church  as  it  is  found  in  America 
is  not  only  not  imposed  on  the  people,  but  is  practically 
unknown.  There  is  organization,  but  as  simple  in  its 
form  as  possible,  and  varying  somewhat  according  to 
conditions. 

2.  Church  buildings  accord  to  the  general  style  of 
houses  used,  and  to  the  ability  of  the  people ;  varying 
from  well-built,  tile-roofed  churches  in  the  cities,  to  small 
thatch-roofed  chapels  in  the  villages. 

3.  Individual  Christians  are  everywhere  expected  to 
be  actively  engaged  in  spreading  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth  to  unevangelized  communities.  In  some  churches 
evangelists  are  permanently  employed  in  this  work,  giv- 
ing their  whole  time  to  it,  and  often  the  more  intelligent 
members  of  churches  are  sent  temporarily  on  such  mis- 
sion work. 

4.  Education  of  primary  grade  is  encouraged,  in  the 
form  of  church  schools,  wherever  congregations  warrant 
it,  supported  by  the  church,  and  under  the  general  super- 
vision of  the  missionaries,  or  church  officers. 

5.  Education  of  higher  grade  is  provided  by  the  mis- 
sion in  the  larger  cities  :  the  mission  supplying  the  plant, 
providing  the  foreign  teacher,  and  paying  the  salaries  of 
most  of  the  native  teachers,  but  leaving  the  cost  of  board 
of  pupils,  of  light  and  heat,  and  general  running  expense 
to  be  met  by  the  natives. 

6.  Education  and  training  of  a  regular  ministry,  is 
(1900)  an  unsolved  problem.     Considering  that  in  the 


Korea  323 

early  Church  there  was  no  settled  pastorate,  no  plans  are 
contemplated  for  theological  training  of  pastors,  and  the 
pastorate  is  not  pressed  upon  the  churches,  but  held  in 
abeyance  for  such  time  as  it  may  be  needed.  Meanwhile 
leaders  in  church  work  are  gathered  in  classes,  for  a 
month  at  a  time,  once  or  twice  a  year,  with  the  Bible  as 
text-book,  and  with  special  emphasis  on  practical  work. 

7.  Books  and  publications  are  sold  at  a  price  ap- 
proximating the  cost  of  production. 

8.  Medical  treatment  is  on  the  same  basis,  all  medi- 
cines, food,  etc.,  being  paid  for  by  patients  in  hospitals  or 
dispensaries  ]  no  one  indeed  is  turned  away,  but  that  is 
the  general  principle. 

Results. — The  result  of  this  general  system  after  seven 
years  of  trial  (1907)  appear  as  follows:  One  thousand 
churches  and  preaching  places  in  North  Korea  and  hun- 
dreds of  church  buildings,  all  erected  by  the  Koreans, 
and  so  distributed  that  a  majority  of  the  people  are  within 
three  miles  of  a  church  or  preaching  place ;  one  thousand 
men  and  five  hundred  women,  gathered  into  one  city 
(Pyeng  Yang),  some  coming  over  a  hundred  miles,  to 
spend  fifteen  days  in  studying  Christianity  and  Christian 
work  ;  at  the  end  of  that  time  all  return  to  the  active 
work  of  preaching  and  teaching  :  a  Bible  Institute  for 
three  hundred  men  and  one  hundred  women,  all  supported 
as  evangelists  by  the  Koreans ;  these  various  leaders  and 
evangelists  hold  classes  for  over  12,000  church-members; 
a  Presbyterian  theological  school  with  seventy-five  stu- 
dents, who  study  three  months  and  work  seven ;  a  union 
(Presbyterian  and  Methodist)  college  and  academy,  with 
thirty  collegiate  and  one  hundred  academic  students ; 
normal  training  schools  for  two  hundred  men  and  eighty- 
seven  women  teachers ;  four  hundred  and  fifty  primary 


324  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

and  graded  schools  connected  with  tlie  churches,  in  which 
9,717  pupils,  including  2,000  girls,  are  pursuing  a  six 
years'  course  :  other  schools  of  higher  grade  besides  a 
number  of  day  and  night  schools  for  adults  to  learn  to 
read  :  over  15,000  students  taught  in  these  schools:  the 
entire  work  self-supporting  :  with  church-membership  in- 
creasing at  the  rate  of  fifty  per  cent,  per  year,  the  figures 
of  about  31,000  in  1904  must  be  greatly  increased. 

Figures  alone  give  but  meager  conception  of  what  it 
means  for  a  nation  to  be  turning  to  Christ.  From  one 
end  of  the  country  to  the  other,  there  is  an  almost  fever- 
ish haste  to  learn  about  Christianity.  In  the  words  of 
Prof.  H.  P.  Beach  :  ''  When  it  comes  to  eagerness  for 
Christian  learning,  Koreans  again  appear  in  the  van, 
eclipsing  apparently  the  Christians  of  Uganda.  One 
constantly  hears  of  conferences,  normal  institutes,  in- 
quirers' classes,  etc.,  which  would  drive  American  pastors 
distracted.  Yet  the  people  are  hungry  for  them  all  and 
it  is  the  only  way  in  which  the  small  force  can  begin  to 
overtake  the  work."  The  Central  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Pyeng  Yang,  which  seats  fifteen  hundred  people,  has 
swarmed  tliree  times,  and  in  numbers  of  churches, 
double  services  are  held,  one  for  men  and  one  for  women, 
simply  because  they  are  too  small  to  hold  the  congrega- 
tions. Never  probably  in  the  history  of  missions  has  a 
heavier  strain  been  laid  upon  those  with  whom  rests  the 
responsibility  for  guidance.  Little  wonder  is  it  that 
death  rate  and  invalid  rate  have  been  serious,  or  that 
the  missionary  societies  are  straining  every  nerve  to  meet 
the  need.  Upon  the  record  of  the  next  two  years  will 
depend  much,  not  only  for  Korea,  but  for  those  who 
have  held  or  now  hold  the  mastery.  A  Christianized, 
compact    Korea  will    be   no    tool    for   Japan's    political 


Korea  325 

scheming,  the  slave  of  Manchu  autocracy  or  the  servant 
of  Russia's  empire.  Standing  as  she  does  between  the 
three  great  empires,  she  has  an  opportunity  such  as 
comes  to  the  share  of  few  countries.  Marquis  Ito 
understands  it,  when  he  implores  the  missionaries  to  up- 
hold Japan's  policy.  China  is  watching,  and  that 
Russia  is  forgetful  no  one  imagines.  Not  less  than 
China  or  Japan,  is  Korea  the  great  mission  field  of  the 
day,  great  in  its  progress,  great  in  its  power,  greater  still 
in  its  need  and  in  its  opportunity. 


XX 

THE  PACIFIC  ISLANDS 

NATURE  at  its  best  and  mankind  at  its  worst. 
Beautiful  coral  reefs  protecting  islands  where 
human  beings  were  eating  each  other. 
Magnificent  mountains  looking  down  on  mothers  murder- 
ing their  children  ;  on  sons  and  daughters  burying  their 
parents  alive.  Darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep, 
and  for  untold  centuries  islands  were  rising  out  of  the 
ocean  and  disappearing  into  its  depths ;  peoples  of  many 
tongues  and  more  superstitions  were  living  out  their  little 
span  of  life,  and  Christendom  knew  nothing  of  this 
wonderful,  palpitating  world  lying  behind  the  barrier 
of  a  great  continent.  Then  came  the  discovery  of  this 
vast  body  of  water  into  which  Fernao  de  Magelhaes 
launched  the  first  ships  of  Europe  in  1520,  and  which  he 
named  Pacific. 

Other  explorers  followed,  especially  during  the  eight- 
eenth century :  Behring,  Anson,  Byron,  Bougainville, 
Cook,  Vancouver,  Broughton,  La  Perouse,  Wallis ;  and 
in  the  nineteenth  century  D'Entrecasteaux,  Krusenstern, 
Beechy,  Fitzroy,  D'Urville,  Wilkes,  Sir  James  Ross  and 
others.  That  some  of  these  expeditions  were  for  the 
good  of  the  islands  and  their  people,  is  doubtless  true, 
as  is  evidenced  by  the  instructions  Lieutenant  Wilkes 
gave  his  men  :  that  the  natives  were  to  be  honourably 
and  kindly  treated,  and  any  failure  in  this  respect  would 

326 


The  Pacific  Islands  327 

be  severely  punished.  Yet  it  is  but  too  true  that  the 
greater  number  were  neither  humane  nor  virtuous  in 
their  treatment  of  the  natives.  It  was  not  an  unmixed 
blessing — this  coming  of  the  first  white  men  to  the  island 
world,  hanging  up  their  conscience  off  Cape  Horn,  and 
outdoing  the  heathen  in  rioting  and  debauchery,  in 
licentiousness  and  cruelty.  Much  has  been  said  of  the 
savageness  of  the  South  Sea  islander  ;  much  indignation 
has  been  shown  for  his  treatment  of  the  noble  white  men, 
and  many  a  war-ship  has  been  rushed  to  the  spot  where 
a  ship  has  been  cut  off,  and  summary  vengeance  has  been 
meted  out  to  the.  bewildered  natives — retaliatioji  without 
investigation.  And  these  heathen  say.  Truly  the  white  / 
people  are  great,  but  what  savages  they  are  !  Had  in-  / 
vestigation  been  made,  it  would  have  shown  that  some 
white  man  had  been  the  aggressor,  and  well  merited  the 
punishment  meted  out  to  him,  or  to  the  next  white 
man. 

An  increased  knowledge  of  these  island  races  shows 
that  they  were  neither  so  low  nor  so  lazy  as  they  have  . 
been  depicted  ;  there  were  degrees  in  the  pall  of  dark- 
ness over  the  different  groups,  though  at  best  it  was  but  ' 
darkness  and  gross  superstition.  Their  ideas  of  religion 
were  degraded  and  degrading.  Fetishism  in  countless 
forms  and  developments  held  the  people  in  hopeless 
bondage,  augmented  by  a  paralyzing  system  of  tabu. 
**  One  saw  his  god  in  the  eel,  another  in  the  shark,  the 
turtle,  the  dog,  the  owl,  the  lizard — and  so  on  through- 
out all  the  fish  of  the  sea,  the  birds,  four-footed  beasts 
and  creeping  things."  Meaningless  stones  were  made 
objects  of  terror  by  the  priests  ;  rudely  carved  blocks  of 
wood  were  worshipped  in  New  Guinea,  and  gigantic, 
carved  images  in  Easter  Island.     Truly  there  were  gods 


328  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

many  and  gods  meaningless ;  and  well  were  these 
islands  called  in  one  of  their  languages,  "  the  lands  of 
the  shadow  of  death  "  ! 

Early  Missions. — Missionary  work  in  the  Pacific 
began  with  Magellan  (1521)  when  he  ''  converted  all  the 
inhabitants  of  Cebu  and  the  adjacent  Philippine  Islands  " 
in  the  space  of  a  fortnight,  but  he  was  afterwards  killed 
by  his  savage  disciples.  A  mission  was  also  attempted 
by  the  Jesuits,  Recollets  and  Augustinians  in  the 
Mariana,  Pelews,  and  Caroline  Islands,  but  the  two 
latter  were  soon  abandoned  and  the  friars  confined  their 
efforts  to  the  Philippines  and  Marianas. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  modern  missionary  movement 
in  the  Pacific,  but  few  traces  could  be  found  of  good 
done  by  white  men,  while  evil  consequences  abounded. 
It  is  a  significant  fact  that  though  explorers,  traders  and 
whalers  as  well  as  the  various  Roman  Catholic  mission- 
aries had  been  among  these  islands  for  at  least  four  cen- 
turies, so  little  was  known  of  them  that  when  the  newly 
formed  London  Missionary  Society  decided  to  establish  a 
mission  among  them  (1797),  they  told  their  missionaries 
that  they  were  going  "  to  an  earthly  paradise,  where,"  it 
was  gravely  feared,  "  the  innocent  children  of  nature 
would  treat  them  too  well."  What  these  missionaries 
did  find  is  also  a  most  significant  comment  on  the  fact 
that  civilization  apart  from  the  Spirit  of  God,  counts  for 
but  little. 

Excluding  Australasia  and  the  Malay  Archipelago 
which  is  included  in  Malaysia,  the  Pacific  Islands  are 
divided  as  follows : 

Polynesian  Groups: — Hawaii,  Ellice,  Phoenix,  Union 
(Tokelau),  Samoa,  Manihiki,  Marquesas,  Tuamotu  (Low 
or   Pearl),    Society    (Tahiti),    Cook    (Hervey),    Tabuai 


The  Pacific  Islands  329 

(Austral),  Niue  (Savage),  Tonga  (Friendly),  and  several 
scattered  islands. 

Micronesian  Groups  :— Mariana,  Caroline,  Marshall 
and  Gilbert. 

Melanesian  Groups  : — Kermadec,  Fiji,  Loyalty,  New 
Caledonia,  New  Hebrides,  Santa  Cruz,  Solomon, 
Lousiades,  Bismarck  and  Papua  (New  Guinea). 

Protestant  Missions. — The  published  voyages  of 
Wallis,  Cook  and  others  had  aroused  much  interest  in 
London  in  these  little  known  islands,  and  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  the  great  continents  were  still  closed  to  mission- 
ary endeavour  the  London  Missionary  Society  turned  to 
the  Pacific  for  its  first  field,  deciding  to  begin  work  on 
"  Otaheite  or  some  other  islands  of  the  South  Seas."  Ac- 
cordingly, a  band  of  thirty  men  and  women  left  England 
in  the  Z)uff,  August  10,  1796,  with  decidedly  hazy  ideas 
as  to  where  they  were  going,  and  a  halo  of  innocence  in 
their  thought  of  the  peoples.  A  voyage  of  208  days 
brought  them  to  Tahiti  where  eighteen  of  their  number 
remained,  while  the  Z?//^  proceeded  to  Tongatabu  of  the 
Friendly  or  Tonga  islands  and  landed  ten  others  ;  the  re- 
maining two  men  were  destined  for  the  Marquesas,  but  on 
arriving  at  Santa  Christina  and  seeing  the  savages  one  of 
them  became  demoralized  and  refused  to  stay,  so  the  one 
heroic  soul,  Mr.  W.  P.  Crook,  remained  alone. 

It  was  five  years,  before  any  supplies  reached  the  lonely 
workers.  Their  clothing  dropped  to  pieces ;  their  shoes 
wore  out  and  they  went  barefoot ;  the  natives,  thinking 
they  were  abandoned  by  their  friends,  became  increas- 
ingly hostile,  especially  as  no  further  gifts  could  be  ob- 
tained from  them.  Five  of  the  ten  left  on  Tongatabu 
were  killed  for  a  cannibal  feast ;  the  others  escaped  to  the 
bush,   stripped  even  of  their  clothing,  and  there  would 


330  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

have  miserably  perished  had  not  a  friendly  native  given 
them  the  native  loin  cloths  and  fed  them  after  a  fashion. 
In  iSoo  they  managed  to  escape  in  a  trading  vessel,  and 
the  mission  to  the  Friendly  Islands  of  Captain  Cook  was 
abandoned.  The  lonely  worker  in  Santa  Christina  had 
won  favour, — a  precarious  favour,  with  the  natives,  and 
all  would  have  gone  well,  but  one  day  when  visiting  a 
ship  in  the  harbour  a  storm  sprang  up  and  they  were 
carried  so  far  from  the  island  they  could  not  make 
it  again,  so  the  Marquesas  also  were  without  a  mis- 
sionary. 

Tahiti. — Of  the  eighteen  who  remained  at  Tahiti, 
three  were  killed  and  ten  fled  in  a  panic,  so  that  at  the 
opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  there  remained  but  five 
men  and  two  women,  the  only  missionaries  in  all  the  vast 
Pacific  Ocean.  This  little  band  were  treated  by  King 
Pomare  with  fluctuating  courtesy  ;  now  feasting  them  with 
taro  and  pig  ;  now  threatening  to  make  a  feast  ofl"  them. 
He  died  in  1804,  after  having  ofl'ered  more  than  2,000 
human  sacrifices  to  his  gods.  Under  the  rule  of  his  son 
and  successor,  the  missionaries  fled  from  Tahiti  to  Hu- 
ahine,  where  they  were  destined  to  further  trial.  Their 
house  was  burned,  and  five  of  the  seven  became  dis- 
heartened and  left.  Of  the  original  band  of  thirty,  but 
two  remained.  In  the  meantime  word  had  reached 
England  of  the  real  condition  of  these  ''innocent  chil- 
dren of  nature."  In  July,  181 2,  a  special  meeting  was 
called  in  London  to  pray  that  Pomare  II  might  be  won  to 
Christ ;  several  tribal  wars  had  been  waged  and  Pomare 
had  gone  to  Eimeo  where  he  invited  the  missionaries  to 
join  him;  in  July,  1812,  at  the  very  time  they  were 
praying  for  him  in  England,  Pomare  gave  up  his  idols 
and  asked   for  baptism.     Some  of  the  missionaries  who 


The  Pacific  Islands  331 

had  fled  returned,  and  the  work  went  on  with  renewed 
vigour.  The  light  spread  from  island  to  island,  till  by 
1 8 15  idolatry  was  utterly  abolished  in  the  larger  islands 
of  the  group,  schools  and  chapels  were  multiplied,  and 
the  missionaries  had  the  difficult  task  of  building  up 
Christian  communities  out  of  the  late  heathen.  They 
entered  upon  the  work  with  undaunted  hearts  and  a  holy 
enthusiasm.  In  181 7  they  rejoiced  in  the  coming  of  the 
sorely  needed  reinforcements,  among  whom  were  William 
Ellis  and  John  Williams. 

John  Williams. — The  pioneer  missionaries  had  been, 
with  the  exception  of  four  ordained  men,  all. artisans ; 
carpenters,  shoemakers,  bricklayers,  tailors,  smiths,  and 
a  hatter,  manufacturer,  butcher,  harness-maker,  tinsmith, 
cooper,  weaver,  cabinet-maker,  a  surgeon,  and  three 
women  and  three  children.  They  were  good  men,  but 
untrained,  and  lacking  in  the  first  elements  of  discipline. 
Won  by  the  glowing  picture  of  the  South  Seas,  they 
landed  on  the  islands  to  face  the  stern  reality.  They 
had  no  leader ;  each  was  a  law  unto  himself,  and  during 
those  first  years  their  appeal  was  for  a  leader — some  one  to 
tell  them  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it.  This  appeal  was 
met  in  the  person  of  John  Williams  who  quickly  took  in 
the  situation.  It  seemed  to  him  worse  than  folly  for  the 
seventeen  missionaries  to  remain  '*  within  the  narrow 
barrier  of  an  encircling  coral  reef"  ;  he  believed  in  ex- 
pansion, and  in  training  up  a  native  agency  to  carry  the 
gospel  to  their  fellow  islanders.  Accordingly,  without 
waiting  for  instructions  from  London,  he  launched  out 
into  the  deep  at  once,  and  during  the  next  twenty  years 
he  kept  the  Society  in  London  in  hot  water  wondering 
what  he  would  do  next.  In  1818  the  Tahitian  Mission- 
ary Society  was  formed  and  the  next  year  Mr.  Williams 


332  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

placed  two  Tahiti  Christians  on  Tongatabu  where  the 
Enghsh  missionaries  had  been  murdered  by  the  cannibals 
in  1798,  and  when  the  Wesleyans  reached  the  island  two 
years  later  (1821),  they  found  an  open  door.  King 
George  was  so  impressed  with  the  new  religion  that  he 
took  all  his  gods  and  hung  them  from  the  roof  of  his 
house ;  when  the  common  people  saw  they  did  not  resent 
this  indignity,  with  one  accord  they  turned  to  this  new 
religion. 

About  the  same  time  (1820)  the  Austral  Island  of 
Rurutu  was  swept  by  an  epidemic,  and  two  old  chiefs, 
believing  their  gods  were  angry  with  them,  set  out  in 
their  canoe  for  a  happier  isle.  Lost  at  sea,  after  three 
weeks'  suffering  they  reached  Marua  and  Raiatea  of  the 
Society  Islands.  Astonished  at  the  evidences  of  Chris- 
tianity, they  questioned  the  missionaries  as  to  the  new 
religion  which  wrought  such  marvels.  Remaining  three 
months  and  learning  to  read,  they  asked  for  teachers  to 
accompany  them  back  to  their  own  people.  Volunteers 
were  called  for,  and  two  deacons  responded,  the  church- 
members  supplying  their  "outfit."  They  arrived  in 
Rurutu  on  Monday ;  on  Tuesday  a  mass  meeting  of  the 
natives  was  held,  and  Christ  was  preached  to  them;  on 
Wednesday,  they  put  the  new  teaching  to  a  test :  a  feast 
was  held,  the  tabus  broken,  women  eating  with  the  men 
of  the  forbidden  turtle,  pork,  etc.,  and  then  they  waited 
in  fear  to  see  what  would  happen.  Nothing  did  happen, 
however,  and  with  one  accord  the  people  expressed  their 
disgust  that  they  had  been  so  long  duped  by  the  evil 
spirits.  In  less  than  a  month  their  gods  were  piled  igno- 
miniously  into  a  boat  and  sent  to  Mr.  Williams,  and  from 
this  time  began  a  genuine  transformation  of  Rurutu 
which  spread  throughout  the  entire  group. 


The  Pacific  Islands  333 

From  Island  to  Island. — While  these  doors  were 
opening,  two  Tahitian  teachers  were  taken  to  Aitutaki  of 
the  Cook  Islands,  and  in  less  than  two  years  idolatry  was 
put  aside  with  all  its  attendant  evils  and  the  people  were 
eager  for  instruction  ;  the  word  was  carried  through  the 
group  by  shipwrecked  natives  or  Christian  evangelists, 
till  the  way  was  fully  prepared  for  the  coming  of  the 
missionaries.  In  1827  Mr.  Williams  removed  to  Raro- 
tonga,  ever  having  his  vision  on  the  islands  beyond. 
The  story  of  the  extension  of  missionary  activity  from 
group  to  group  of  this  vast  world  of  islands  is  one  of 
marvel ;  not  only  did  the  Christian  natives,  often  at  the 
peril  of  their  lives,  go  wiUingly  as  evangeUsts,  but  heathen 
natives  lost  at  sea  happily  reached  many  a  Christian 
island  and  were  taught,  while  Christian  natives  lost  in 
the  same  way  carried  the  light  to  heathen  islands  oft- 
times.  In  this  manner  did  God  use  the  wind  and  the 
waves  to  spread  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  to  the 
Austral,  Ellice,  Manihiki  and  many  other  islands. 

The  same  year  that  Mr.  Williams  located  in  Rarotonga, 
fugitives  from  tribal  wars  in  the  Tuamotu  or  Pearl  Islands 
reached  Tahiti  and  came  under  Christian  influences,  and 
returning  to  their  island  homes  spread  the  gospel  far  and 
wide,  so  that  hundreds  of  the  people  went  to  Tahiti  to 
see  for  themselves  whether  these  things  were  true.  In 
1832  two  of  their  number  were  ordained  evangelists,  and 
by  1839  idolatry  had  practically  ceased  throughout  the 
archipelago. 

On  Rarotonga,  Mr.  Williams  was  building  his  Mes- 
senger of  Peace,  with  a  view  of  bridging  the  interven- 
ing 2,000  miles  between  him  and  the  western  islands  that 
he  longed  to  reach.  Accompanied  by  Mr.  Barff  and  a 
number  of  teachers  from  Tahiti  and  Aitutaki,  in  1830  he 


334  '^^^  Missionary  Enterprise 

proceeded  to  Samoa  where  the  way  had  already  been 
somewhat  prepared  by  a  Samoan  chief  who  had  come 
under  Christian  influences.  The  first  teachers  were 
stationed  on  Savaii,  and  within  two  years  Opulu,  Tutuila, 
Manua  and  the  other  islands  were  ready  to  forsake  their 
idols  and  were  clamouring  for  teachers.  In  the  Fiji 
Group,  the  natives  of  Ono  had  heard  there  was  a  true 
God,  and  that  one  day  in  seven  belonged  to  Him ;  so 
the  chiefs  had  the  people  prepare  food  the  previous  day, 
and  then  ignorantly  worshipped  the  unknown  God  by 
dressing  in  heathen  festive  attire.  Just  at  this  time,  a 
number  of  Christian  Tongans  were  shipwrecked  on  Ono, 
and  one  of  them  turned  evangelist  and  told  the  people 
all  he  knew ;  other  teachers  were  sent  and  paved  the  way 
for  the  coming  of  James  Calvert  and  other  Wesleyan 
missionaries  in  1834.  Other  Tongan  Christians,  lost  in 
like  manner,  drifted  to  Mare  of  the  Loyalty  Group,  and 
when  A.  W.  Murray  and  other  missionaries  came  seven 
years  later  (1841),  they  found  a  ready  welcome. 

In  the  meantime  Mr.  Williams  had  been  to  England 
where  he  strenuously  urged  the  need  of  a  ship,  and  in 
1838  his  heart  was  gladdened  by  the  purchase  of  the 
Camdetiy  in  which  with  a  goodly  reinforcement,  he  re- 
turned to  the  islands  (1837)  and  located  in  Samoa.  By 
this  period  English  missionaries  were  stationed  in  the 
Society,  Cook,  Tonga,  Samoa  and  the  Fiji  Islands,  with 
a  large  corps  of  native  evangelists,  who  bore  the  brunt  of 
pioneering  among  the  hostile  and  too  often  cannibal 
islanders.  In  1839  Mr.  Williams  established  a  training 
school  on  Rarotonga,  from  which  many  consecrated  na- 
tives have  gone  as  pioneers  and  evangelists  to  other  islands. 

The  New  Hebrides. — After  visiting  the  existing 
stations,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  New  Hebrides  and 


The  Pacific  Islands  335 

New  Caledonia.  Teachers  were  placed  on  Rotuma  and 
Tanna,  but  were  repulsed  at  Futuna,  and  the  Camden 
proceeded  to  Erromanga,  where  they  succeeded  in  land- 
ing, but  the  natives  were  hostile,  and  both  Mr.  Williams 
and  his  companion  Mr.  Harris  were  murdered ;  the 
others  escaped,  and  sorrowfully  left  the  island,  but  this 
was  not  to  be  the  end ;  in  six  months  the  Camden  was 
again  at  Erromanga  with  Samoan  teachers  who  had 
volunteered  for  this  perilous  service,  and  they  remained 
a  year  in  great  danger ;  later  teachers  were  placed  more 
favourably  on  Aniwa,  and  the  workers  on  Tanna  were 
reinforced.  -  • 

When  Mr.  Williams  visited  England  it  had  been  ar- 
ranged that  native  agents  under  the  missionaries  of  the 
London  Society,  should  open  the  New  Hebrides  work, 
and  when  a  footing  had  been  achieved,  the  field  sliould 
be  manned  by  the  Presbyterians  of  Scotland  and  Nova 
Scotia.  In  1841  New  Caledonia  was  occupied  by  Samoan 
evangelists,  and  in  1842  Pao,  a  Rarotongan,  began  work 
on  Lifu  of  the  Loyalty  Group.  This  year  Messrs. 
Turner  and  Nesbit  and  their  wives  settled  on  Tanna,  the 
first  white  missionaries  to  permanently  locate  in  the  New 
Hebrides.  They  remained  but  two  years,  when  they 
were  obliged  to  flee  for  their  lives  to  Samoa,  where  they 
founded  the  school  which  has  since  become  famous,  for 
the  training  of  a  native  agency  for  the  work  in  all  parts 
of  the  Pacific,  Malua  Institute. 

In  1848  John  Geddie,  'Uhe  Father  of  the  Presbyterian 
Mission,"  arrived  in  Aneityum,  accompanied  by  Mr. 
Powell  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  Mission  in 
Samoa.  Erromanga  was  occupied  in  1857,  and  the  fol- 
lowing year  John  G.  Paton  began  his  memorable  work  on 
Tanna  and  Aniwa. 


33^  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Three  attempts  to  place  teachers  on  Niue,  Savage 
Island,  having  failed,  it  was  not  till  sixteen  years  after 
John  Williams  had  first  visited  the  island  that  a  foothold 
was  acquired.  In  1846  Messrs.  Gill  and  Nesbit  of 
Samoa  succeeded  in  leaving  a  teacher  among  the  savages 
of  this  most  rightly  named  Savage  Island.  At  the  end 
of  ten  years  practically  the  entire  population  had  re- 
nounced heathenism,  and  in  1861  Rev.  and  Mrs.  W.  G. 
Lavves  took  up  the  work  of  building  on  the  foundations 
laid  by  the  faithful  native  teachers. 

In  the  meantime  on  Tahiti,  the  French  had  begun  the 
series  of  outrages  which  culminated  in  a  protectorate  in 
1842  and  annexation  the  following  year.  Three  years 
later  the  Paris  Society  took  over  a  part  of  the  work  of 
the  London  Missionary  Society  and  by  a  very  gradual 
process  assumed  the  oversight  of  all  the  churches.  The 
last  London  Missionary  Society  missionaries  left  the 
group  in  1890. 

The  Maoris. — While  the  missionaries  were  gradually 
opening  doors  among  the  scattered  islands  in  what  may 
be  called  the  interior  of  the  Pacific,  a  colonial  chaplain 
in  New  South  Wales,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Marsden,  became 
interested  in  the  Maoris  from  the  neighbouring  island  of 
New  Zealand,  and  visiting  England  (1807)  persuaded 
the  Church  Missionary  Society  to  send  missionaries 
to  them.  On  the  ship  on  which  they  sailed  from 
London  was  Ruatara,  a  Maori  chief,  who  had  shipped 
as  a  sailor  ''to  see  the  world,"  and  was  the  worse 
for  the  experience.  Marsden  befriended  him,  and 
under  his  influence  Ruatara  became  a  Christian 
and  was  of  inestimable  value  to  them  in  the  task 
they  had  undertaken.  At  Sidney  a  vessel  was  pur- 
chased, and  accompanied  by  three  artisan  missionaries 


The  Pacific  Islands  337 

and  their  families,  Marsden  sailed  for  New  Zealand, 
whither  Ruatara  had  preceded  them.  After  assisting 
them  in  their  first  intercourse  with  the  savage  Maoris, 
Marsden  returned  to  Sidney  and  the  little  band  began 
the  difficult  task  of  learning  the  language  and  winning 
the  cannibal  tribes. 

In  1822  Wesleyan  missionaries  arrived,  followed  by 
the  brothers  Henry  and  William  Williams  to  reinforce 
the  London  Society  workers.  For  eleven  years  there 
were  few  results,  though  by  1818  there  were  several 
Maoris  who  were  trying  to  live  up  to  the  little  light  they 
had  ;  the  first  baptism  took  place  in  1825.  During  the 
ensuing  five  years  the  whole  nation  turned  to  Christ,  and 
a  Christian  civilization  rapidly  developed.  On  New 
Zealand  becoming  a  British  Colony  (1840)  new  condi- 
tions were  created.  Mr.  Selwyn  was  consecrated  Bishop 
of  New  Zealand,  the  native  churches  thrived  and  other 
denominations  entered  the  field.  In  1848  Bishop  Selwyn 
visited  the  northern  islands  and  what  he  saw  of  the 
splendid  work  of  the  native  evangelists  led  to  the  found- 
ing of  an  institution  in  Auckland  for  the  education  of 
young  men  from  these  various  groups,  and  indirectly  to 
the  founding  of  the  Melanesian  Mission.  He  was  as- 
sisted in  the  work  of  the  college  by  John  Coleridge 
Patteson  (1855-60). 

Then  came  the  perplexing  question  as  to  the  owner- 
ship of  the  land,  resulting  in  a  war  (1860-65)  fomented 
by  the  French  Catholics,  and  the  Maoris  became  increas- 
ingly anti-everything  foreign.  They  evolved  a  new  re- 
ligion made  up  of  Old  Testament  history,  Roman 
Catholic  dogma,  heathen  rites  and  ventriloquism.  Re- 
velations came  from  the  Angel  Gabriel  through  the  em- 
balmed   head   of  an  Englishman.     By  1870  fully  9,000 


338  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Maoris  had  embraced  this  "  Hau-hauism,"  as  it  was 
called.  During  this  period  of  degeneracy  two  missionaries 
were  murdered,  but  that  the  missionaries  and  the  native 
church  did  not  suffer  more,  was  remarkable.  The  work 
of  the  various  denominations  prospered,  home  and  foreign 
missionary  organizations  followed,  the  Maoris  were 
represented  in  parliament,  and  New  Zealand  stood  ready 
to  take  her  share  in  the  world's  work.  In  1861  Mr. 
Patteson  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Melanesia,  and  it 
was  decided  to  make  Norfolk  Island  the  headquarters  of 
the  new  mission,  so  to  it  the  training  school  was  re- 
moved. With  the  cordial  cooperation  of  the  Presby- 
terians already  at  work  in  the  Southern  New  Hebrides, 
the  bounds  of  the  Melanesian  Mission  include  five 
groups  of  islands  :  Northern  New  Hebrides,  Banks, 
Torres,  Santa  Cruz  and  Solomon  Islands.  In  its  in- 
ception the  thought  of  both  Bishops  Selwyn  and  Patteson 
was  that  the  islands  should  be  Christianized  exclusively 
by  natives  from  the  college  at  Norfolk,  with  occasional 
visits  and  oversight  by  the  English  missionaries.  As  the 
years  passed,  this  policy  was  found  impracticable,  or 
rather  the  mission  outgrew  it ;  and  while  the  young  men 
are  still  educated  and  sent  out,  they  go  as  assistants  of 
the  English  missionaries  who  are  settled  in  permanent 
stations  in  all  the  groups.  The  natives  quickly  learned 
that  the  newcomers  were  their  friends,  and  the  work  was 
progressing  favourably  when  an  unforeseen  danger 
threatened  its  overthrow.  The  depraved  white  men, 
bent  on  kidnapping,  impersonated  the  missionaries,  even 
using  Patteson's  name  to  entice  the  unhappy  natives  on 
board  their  ships  ;  the  islands  were  being  ra))idly  de- 
populated, and  there  was  deadly  and  implacable  hatred 
between  the  natives  and  the  white  men — they  knew  not 


The  Pacific  Islands  339 

whom  to  trust.  Under  these  conditions  Bishop  Patteson 
visited  the  Santa  Cruz  group,  landing  on  a  heathen 
island,  where  he  was  killed  with  five  arrows — in  expia- 
tion of  the  killing  of  five  natives  by  sandalwood 
traders. 

Government  interferen-ce  has  to  a  degree  stopped  the 
enslaving  of  these  island  races,  and  the  work  went  on  un- 
der other  leaders,  till  more  than  thirty  islands  are  cen- 
ters of  light  from  which  the  gospel  is  carried  to  the  re- 
gions yet  untouched. 

The  Wesleyans  of  Australia  extended  their  work  to  the 
Bismarck  Archipelago  (1875)  occupying  New  Pomerania, 
New  Lauenburg  and  New  Mecklenburg  with  native 
evangelists  from  Fiji  and  Tonga ;  nearly  ten  thousand 
Christians  have  been  gathered  from  these  savage  tribes, 
and  true  to  the  instinct  of  all  these  islanders,  are  eager 
to  learn  that  they  may  in  turn  become  evangelists. 

New  Guinea. — Next  comes  New  Guinea  ;  the  largest 
of  these  Pacific  Islands,  and  perhaps  destined  to  greatest 
development  in  future  years.  The  first  to  attempt  work 
among  the  cannibal  Papuan  tribes  were  Gossner  mis- 
sionaries (1854)  with  but  little  success.  When  the 
Dutch  took  possession  of  the  northwestern  part  of  the 
island  this  work  was  revived  by  the  Utrecht  Missionary 
Union.  It  has  been  attended  by  no  little  danger  and  priva- 
tion, but  a  Christian  civilization  is  quietly  emanating 
from  the  six  stations  occupied  by  their  missionaries,  the 
children  are  gathered  in  schools,  and  more  than  400 
adult  Christians  are  having  a  marked  influence  on  their 
heathen  neighbours.  In  Kaiser  Wilhelm's  Land  the 
Neuendettelsau  (1886)  and  the  Rhenish  (1887)  Socie- 
ties are  working  among  many  little  and  hostile  tribes, 
against  the  adverse  influences  of  climate,  the  perplexities 


340  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

of  many  languages  and  the  savageness  of  the  peoples  ;  yet 
here  the  light  is  breaking  in  fourteen  stations  about  which 
the  Christian  communities  are  gathered. 

The  southeast  portion  of  the  island,  or  British  New 
Guinea  has  met  with  unexpected  results  as  a  mission 
field.  In  1871  Messrs.  McFarlane  and  Murray  of  the 
London  Missionary  Society  succeeded  in  locating  eight 
native  evangelists  from  the  Loyalty  Islands  on  three 
islands  near  the  mainland,  and  the  next  year  fourteen 
more  came  from  Rarotonga  and  Mare,  ten  of  whom  were 
located  on  the  mainland,  while  Mr.  Murray  settled  at 
Cape  York,  the  nearest  Australian  point  to  New  Guinea, 
to  oversee  the  work,  where  he  was  joined  by  Mr.  McFar- 
lane (1874)  while  Mr.  Lawes  settled  at  Port  Moresby ; 
three  years  later  James  Chalmers  was  transferred  from 
Rarotonga  and  began  the  work  which  ended  only  with 
f  his  martyrdom.  The  history  of  this  mission  is  one  of  ex- 
ploration and  peril,  both  from  tropical  swamps  and 
savage  cannibals.  The  first  converts  were  baptized  in 
1882,  and  with  the  establishing  of  the  British  protectorate 
(1884-8)  the  work  received  new  impetus.  A  conference 
between  representatives  of  the  London  Missionary  So- 
ciety, the  Australian  Anglicans  and  Australasian  Wes- 
leyans  (1890)  led  to  a  friendly  division  of  the  field,  a 
larger  force  of  workers  and  better  results.  Christian 
workers  from  England,  Scotland  and  Australia  occupy  a 
chain  of  stations,  extending  from  Port  Moresby  to  the 
Fly  River,  ably  assisted  by  native  evangelists  from  Ta- 
hiti, Rarotonga,  Samoa,  Nine  and  the  Loyalty  Islands, 
and  their  influence  extends  even  to  the  inland  tribes. 
More  than  3,000  communicants  and  over  twice  that  num- 
ber of  adherents  are  scattered  in  many  villages,  while 
more   than  4,000  children   are  under   instruction,    and 


The  Pacific  Islands  341 

seminaries  have  been  established  in  which  native  helpers 
are  trained.  The  tragic  deaths  of  Chalmers  and  Tom- 
kins  (1901)  were  a  severe  blow,  not  only  to  the  mission, 
but  the  English  officials  also  keenly  felt  the  loss  of  Chal- 
mers, whose  intrepid  spirit  had  done  much  in  gaining  to 
England  the  peaceful  possession  of  this  part  of  the  island. 
With  rare  wisdom,  the  governor  meted  out  a  punishment 
to  his  murderers  which  he  felt  Chalmers  would  have  ap- 
proved—the destruction  of  the  fighting  dubus  and  war 
canoes,  a  disgrace  in  the  eye  of  the  natives.  Of  his 
death  one  of  his  fellow  workers  says,  **  If  I  am  right  in 
thinking  this  will  put  an  end  to  such  tragedies,  I  know 
that  he  or  any  of  his  fellow  missionaries  would  unhesitat- 
ingly welcome  the  opportunity  for  the  sake  of  its  end." 

The  Marquesas. — For  twenty-seven  years  after  Mr. 
Crook  left  the  Marquesas  nothing  was  done,  then  three 
attempts  were  made  to  locate  teachers  (1827-9)  t>^t 
all  were  failures.  In  1833  three  American  missionaries 
were  sent  out  by  the  American  Board,  who  succeeded  in 
propitiating  the  natives  and  began  a  promising  work ; 
but  after  they  had  been  there  eight  months  they  learned 
that  missionaries  of  the  London  Missionary  Society 
were  to  ^occupy  the  group,  and  to  avoid  compli- 
cations the  Americans  withdrew.  The  English  workers 
arrived  the  following  year,  and  remained  till  1841, 
when  they  became  discouraged  and  abandoned  the 
field.  Twelve  years  later  a  Marquesan  chief  appealed 
to  Hawaii  for  a  teacher,  and  under  the  leadership 
of  Rev.  B.  F.  Parker  four  Hawaiian  families  were 
sent  out  (1854),  and  the  islands  have  been  occupied 
by  the  Hawaiian  Board  ever  since.  In  no  other  group 
of  the  Pacific  has  the  work  been  so  discouraging  and 
unfruitful,  due  in  part  to  the  character  of  the  natives^ 


342  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

the  frequent  periods  wlien  there  was  no  resident  mission- 
ary, and  the  very  great  expense  attending  the  enterprise. 
The  French  occupation  put  an  end  to  any  aggressive 
work  here  as  in  her  other  colonies.  . 

The  Hawaiian  Islands. — The  work  of  evangeHzing 
the  islands  north  of  the  equator  has  been  wholly  an 
American  enterprise.  As  in  London  interest  in  the  is- 
land world  had  a  share  in  bringing  the  London  Mission- 
ary Society  into  existence,  so  in  America  the  same 
interest  helped  in  the  formation  of  the  American  Board. 
A  Hawaiian  lad,  saved  from  tribal  wars  and  brought  to 
New  England  by  a  friendly  captain  (1809),  crying  for 
an  education  touched  many  hearts.  Obokaia  dying  be- 
fore he  could  carry  out  his  cherished  wish  of  taking  the 
gospel  to  his  people,  Hiram  Bingham  and  Asa  Thurston 
offered  their  services.  Accompanied  by  two  teachers,  a 
physician,  printer,  and  farmer,  they  sailed  from  Boston 
in  the  fall  of  181 9,  arriving  in  Hawaii  the  following 
March,  to  find  a  marvellous  thing  had  happened.  The 
entire  group  had,  after  repeated  and  bloody  wars,  been 
brought  under  the  rule  of  a  single  chief.  Kamehameha 
was  a  progressive  monarch,  and  the  superiority  of  the 
white  strangers  who  frequented  his  islands  had  not  es- 
caped his  notice.  Moreover,  tidings  had  come  to  them 
of  the  wonderful  happenings  in  the  southern  isles  under 
the  influence  of  the  white  strangers.  He  learned  that 
they  were  actually  giving  up  their  gods,  and  that  with 
impunity.  In  Hawaii  as  in  all  these  Pacific  isles,  the  re- 
ligious and  tabu  systems  weighed  most  heavily  on  the 
women,  and  the  dowager  queen  of  Hawaii  used  all  her 
influence  to  persuade  Kamehameha  to  follow  the  example 
of  Tahiti.  When  the  little  party  of  missionaries  landed, 
they  found  the  wars  had  largely  ceased,  the  idols  over- 


The  Pacific  Islands  343 

thrown,  maraes  (temples)  destroyed  and  the  Hawaiians 
in  the  unique  position  of  having  no  religion.  Their 
main  difficulty  arose  from  the  opposition  of  the  white 
sailors  and  traders,  whose  influence  with  rare  exceptions 
had  been  wholly  evil  everywhere  in  the  Pacific. 

In  1822  Mr.  Ellis  of  ^  the  Tahiti  Mission,  visited 
Hawaii  and  remained  with  the  missionaries  several 
months,  thus  giving  them  the  benefit  of  his  experience. 
Fortunately  there  was  but  one  language  in  the  entire 
group,  and  this  not  difficult.  It  was  reduced  to  writing, 
a  printing-press  established,  and  the  beginnings  of  a 
Christian  literature  made.  For  the  first  fifteen  years 
there  were  few  results.  Stations  were  opened  on  Hawaii, 
Oahu  and  the  other  islands,  and  educational  and  evan- 
gelistic work  went  steadily  on.  It  was  a  time  of  laying 
foundations,  of  sowing  the  seed  in  the  dark  soil  of  heathen 
minds.  At  last  the  day  dawned,  and  the  patient  workers 
saw  not  only  the  blade,  but  the  ear  also.  A  great 
spiritual  awakening,  largely  the  result  of  the  evangelistic 
tours  of  Titus  Coan,  swept  the  entire  group  (1836-9) 
and  a  Christian  nation  was  born.  In  four  years  over 
20,000  people  were  received  into  the  churches.  The 
change  was  accompanied  by  civic  reforms,  "definite 
laws  after  the  manner  of  civilized  nations  "  were  made,  a 
public  school  system  established  and  other  beginnings  of 
a  new  life  were  manifest.  The  transformation  was  com- 
plete, but  the  new  nation  needed  wise  guidance. 

Ha"waiian  Missions. — From  the  first  the  mission- 
aries had  held  a  general  meeting  which  (185 1)  developed 
into  the  Hawaiian  Evangelical  Association.  Feeling 
that  the  native  Christians  needed  active  interest  outside 
their  own  islands  in  order  to  develop  as  robust  Chris- 
tians, overtures  were  made  to  the  American  Board  to 


344  T^^  Missionary  Enterprise 

unite  with  tlie  Hawaiian  churches  in  sending  missionaries 
to  Micronesia.  Accordingly  Messrs.  Snow,  Gulick  and 
Sturges  were  appointed  to  inaugurate  the  new  enterprise. 
They  reached  Hawaii  in  the  summer  of  1852,  and  two 
Hawaiians,  Messrs.  Oponui  and  Kaaikaula  volunteered 
to  accompany  them  on  what  was  felt  by  all  to  be  a  per- 
ilous enterprise.  Little  was  known  of  the  Micronesian 
islands,  and  that  little  was  wholly  bad. 

Great  enthusiasm  was  aroused  in  Honolulu.  Kame- 
hameha  himself  gave  them  a  letter  of  introduction  "  to 
all  the  chiefs  in  the  islands  in  the  great  ocean  to  the 
Westward,"  and  with  their  departure  the  Hawaiian 
Board  joined  the  ranks  of  the  foreign  missionary  organi- 
zations. So  great  was  the  advance  towards  a  Christian 
civilization  throughout  all  the  Hawaiian  Islands  that  the 
American  Board  concluded  that  its  work  was  done ; 
native  pastors  were  placed  over  the  churches,  and  at  the 
Jubilee  of  the  Mission  (1870)  a  formal  announcement 
was  made  to  this  effect.  Under  the  reign  of  Kalakaua 
(1874-91)  the  little  kingdom  degenerated,  and  an  alarm- 
ing tendency  to  relapse  into  heathenism  was  manifest, 
which  continued  in  a  still  worse  form  under  his  sister 
Liliokulani  who  succeeded  him.  In  their  distress  the 
people  turned  to  the  United  States  for  succour,  and  an- 
nexation followed.  Much  work  remained  to  be  done 
among  the  native  Hawaiians  as  well  as  among  the  nu- 
merous foreign  races  that  have  crowded  the  islands,  and 
the  various  religious  bodies  of  the  United  States  have 
taken  up  the  task. 

Micronesia. — The  Hawaiian  Board  still  cooperates 
with  the  American  Board  in  its  Micronesian  Mission, 
which  has  developed  slowly,  with  little  of  the  tragic  ele- 
ments which  marked  the  work  in  the  southern  isles.     The 


The  Pacific  Islands  345 

people  were  not  cannibals,  nor  did  the  practice  of  infan- 
ticide and  killing  the  old  prevail.  Their  religion  was  a 
vague  sort  of  Animism,  and  spirits  were  greatly  feared ; 
there  was  little  religious  ceremony  except  in  connection 
with  the  tattoo  system  and  the  tabu  was  as  oppressive 
here  as  elsewhere.  Here  a^  in  the  southern  groups  white 
men  were  hated  and  killed  whenever  opportunity  offered, 
and  here  as  elsewhere  they  were  usually  the  aggressors. 

The  little  schooner  on  which  the  missionaries  sailed 
reached  Kusaie  of  the  Caroline  Islands  in  August  (1852) ; 
the  king  was  willing  to  experiment  with  one  missionary, 
so  Mr.  and  Mr^.  Snow  remained,  and  one  of  the 
Hawaiian  families,  while  the  others  settled  on  Ponape  of 
the  same  group.  The  first  few  years  were  full  of  trial. 
Their  isolation,  lack  of  communication  with  the  home 
land,  the  heathenism  by  which  they  were  surrounded,  as 
well  as  the  hostility  of  the  natives  fomented  by  the  dis- 
solute whites,  told  heavily  on  them.  Yet  on  the  whole 
they  had  a  far  better  time  than  their  English  friends  were 
having  on  the  islands  south  of  the  equator.  Reinforce- 
ments were  sent  out,  and  with  the  coming  of  the  Morn- 
ing Star  the  work  was  extended  to  the  Marshall  and 
Gilbert  Islands,  in  the  former  by  Messrs.  Pierson  and 
Doane  on  Ebon,  and  in  the  latter  by  Hiram  Bingham 
at  Apaiang.  Languages  were  learned  and  reduced  to 
writing,  the  work,  of  translating  the  Bible  begun,  and 
schools  established  which  later  developed  into  training  in- 
stitutions. In  1 87 1,  the  first  native  teachers  went  out 
from  Ponape,  a  native  princess  and  her  husband  volun- 
teering. The  natives  were  everywhere  increasingly 
friendly,  and  in  spite  of  repeated  reinforcements,  the  mis- 
sionaries could  not  keep  pace  with  the  demand  for 
teachers  from  heathen  islands  in  the  three  groups.     By 


34^  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

1880  a  readjustment  of  the  work  became  necessary;  the 
training  schools  for  the  Gilbert  and  Marshall  Islands 
were  removed  to  the  higher  and  consequently  healthier 
island  of  Kusaie ;  native  teachers  occupied  Ruk  in  the 
Western  Carolines,  followed  in  1884  by  Robert  W. 
Logan,  and  for  the  next  sixteen  years  the  work  went 
steadily  on;  natives  were  trained  and  sent  to  heathen 
islands  as  rapidly  as  possible ;  the  Bible  and  other  litera- 
ture was  translated  and  given  to  the  people,  and  a  Chris- 
tian civilization  gradually  spread  from  island  to  island  in 
the  three  groups. 

With  the  advent  of  Spain,  Germany  and  England 
(1886)  conditions  changed.  In  the  Carolines  the  work 
suffered  under  Spanish  misrule,  which  ended  only  with 
the  Spanish- American  war  (1889)  and  the  session  of  the 
group  to  Germany.  Since  then  the  work  in  both  the 
Carohne  and  Marshall  groups  is  gradually  being  taken 
up  by  German  missionaries  in  cooperation  with  the 
American  Board.  In  the  Southern  Gilberts  the  London 
Missionary  Society  is  doing  good  work  along  the  same 
lines  as  the  American  missionaries  in  the  north  of  the 
same  group.  Hiram  Bingham,  the  pioneer  in  the  Gilbert 
Islands,  has  had  the  honour  of  reducing  the  language  to 
writing,  translating  the  entire  Bible  and  seeing  it  in  the 
hands  of  the  people. 

With  the  advent  of  the  United  States  in  the  Philippines 
and  Marianas,  new  openings  came;  Guam  was  occupied  by 
the  American  Board  iri  1900,  while  work  in  the  Philippines 
was  begun  the  previous  year  by  the  Presbyterian,  Protes- 
tant Episcopal  and  Methodist  Episcopal  churches,  fol- 
lowed by  the  Baptist,  Congregational,  United  Brethren 
and  Disciples  churches.  An  amicable  division  of  the 
field  was   made,  with    Manila  as  a  common  center,  so 


The  Pacific  Islands  347 

that  now  these  strongholds  of  Roman  Catholicism  are  re- 
ceiving a  Christian  teaching  which  carries  civihzation 
with  it,  and  their  work  is  aided  in  no  small  degree  by  the 
fine  system  of  public  schools,  with  more  than  900  Ameri- 
can and  4,000  Filipino  teachers,  maintained  by  the 
United  States  government. 

In  the  little  islands  of  l^icronesia  there  are  over  fifty 
churches  with  more  than  20,000  members  and  adherents, 
while  in  the  Philippines  there  are  already  over  27,000 
Protestant  Christians. 

Over  a  century  has  passed  since  that  first  company 
went  out,  literally  ''not  knowing  whither  they  went." 
The  tale  of  the  years  reveals  horrors  unspeakable  of  a 
portion  of  the  human  race  sunk  in  a  degradation  unknown 
to  civilization.  Innocent  children  of  nature  whose  lurid 
oven  fires  spread  dismay,  and  the  perpetual  demand  for 
human  victims  for  cannibal  feasts  sat  like  a  perpetual 
nightmare  upon  them.  Rarely  could  a  foreigner  land  on 
any  one  of  these  fair  isles  and  escape  with  his  life,  and 
never  unless  heavily  armed.  Few  of  them  were  touched 
by  trade — it  could  not  be  called  commerce — all  of  them 
were  touched  by  crime.  The  story  of  the  years  has  been 
one  of  heroism,  of  a  steadfast  purpose  to  win  these  island 
races  to  Jesus  Christ.  And  has  it  been  accomplished  ?  I 
The  Polynesian  groups,  from  Hawaii  on  the  north  to 
New  Zealand  on  the  south,  are  Christian  ;  on  Nine,  that 
island  called  ''Savage,"  more  than  half  the  entire  popula- 
tion are  church-members ;  the  Loyalty  and  Fiji  Islands  are 
Christian  ;  Aneityum,  Aniwa,  Erromanga — the  Martyr  \ 
Isle — and  others  of  the  New  Hebrides  are  Christian,  and 
throughout  all  the  group,  with  rare  exceptions,  life  and 
property  are  safe.  Florida,  one  of  the  worst  head-hunt- 
ing islands  of  the  Solomon  group,  is  won  for  Christ, 


348  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

while  the  same  glad  change  has  come  to  some  of  the 
other  islands  in  this  as  well  as  in  the  Vera  Cruz  group. 
Schools  and  colleges;  hospitals  and  orphanages;  well  or- 
ganized churches  with  large  Sunday-schools,  Christian 
Endeavour  and  Missionary  Societies,  abound.  Native 
pastors  supply  the  churches  on  the  Christian  islands,  and 
native  evangelists,  thoroughly  trained,  go  to  New 
Caledonia,  and  in  large  numbers  to  cannibal  New 
Guinea.  In  the  matter  of  regular  churchgoing  these 
islanders  lead  the  world.  Missionaries  are  still  needed, 
and  will  be  for  years  to  come.  As  that  little  band  of 
first  missionaries  needed  a  leader,  some  one  to  tell  them 
what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it,  so  do  these  island  folk, 
taking  the  first  steps  into  Christianity  and  civilization, 
need  the  support  and  oversight  of  leaders,  strong  in 
faith  and  character,  and  full  of  wisdom  to  cope  with  the 
"  white  peril  "  of  evil  men. 


XXI 

CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

ANY  survey  of  the  missionary  enterprise  must 
include  certain  departments  or  phases  of  work, 
which  to  some  hardly  seem  to  belong  to  foreign 
missions.  Thus  the  work  among  the  Indians,  Eskimos, 
Chinese  and  other  foreigners,  in  North  America,  has  for 
some  time  been  classed  by  most  as  belonging  to  the  home 
field.  Protestant  missions  in  the  Roman  Catholic  coun- 
tries of  this  continent  and  Europe,  in  Russia,  and  espe- 
cially in  Protestant  lands,  as  Germany,  Australia,  etc.,  are 
looked  upon  by  many  as  not  only  entirely  outside  the 
sphere  of  foreign  missions,  but  as  having  no  justification, 
the  proper  mission  field  being  solely  among  non-Chris- 
tain  peoples.  The  fact  remains  however  that  such  work 
has  been  and  is  carried  on  as  a  foreign  missionary  enter- 
prise, and  without  entering  into  the  question  of  its 
legitimacy  or  wisdom,  it  should  find  a  place  in  the 
statement  of  that  enterprise,  so  far  at  least  as  to  set  forth 
the  idea  and  purpose  at  its  basis. 

The  Western  Hemisphere. — The  history  of  mis- 
sions in  the  western  hemisphere  may  be  divided  into 
three  sections :  Roman  Catholic  missions,  Protestant 
missions  to  the  Indians,  Eskimos,  and  negro  slaves,  and 
Protestant  missions  in  the  Roman  Catholic  countries  of 
Central  and  South  America.  The  first  commenced  with 
the  discovery  of  the  continent,  and  practically  ceased 
with  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.     The  second, 

349 


350  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

although  there  were  desultory  efforts  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  began  as  the  Roman  Catholic  missions  had 
spent  their  force,  and,  except  in  some  parts  of  British 
America,  had  been  absorbed  into  the  home  work  of  the 
churches  by  1870.  The  third  commenced  about  1830, 
and  are  to-day  the  most  noticeable  missionary  efforts  on 
this  side  the  Atlantic. 

Roman  Catholic  Missions. — As  early  as  1493, 
Bernardo  Boil  with  twelve  missionaries  landed  in  Haiti, 
and  by  1505  the  Franciscans  of  Haiti,  Cuba  ^nd  Jamaica, 
were  in  such  numbers  that  they  united  to  form  the  prov- 
ince of  Santa  Cruz.  In  15 14  the  bishopric  of  Darien, 
the  first  on  the  mainland,  was  erected,  and  two  years 
later  Cardinal  Cisneros  gave  orders  that  every  vessel 
bound  for  America  should  carry  at  least  one  monk  or 
priest,  while  in  1526  the  Spanish  king  passed  a  decree 
to  the  same  effect.  By  this  time  the  work  of  subjuga- 
tion had  been  fairly  begun.  A  Portuguese  colony  had 
been  established  in  Brazil,  in  1500;  Cuba  had  been 
conquered,  151 1;  the  Pacific  Ocean  annexed,  15 13; 
Mexico  conquered,  152 1.  Almost  immediately  after, 
Pizarro  defeated  the  Incas  of  Peru,  1531  ;  Argentine 
was  occupied,  1535;  Paraguay,  1536;  Chile,  1541. 
In  ever-increasing  numbers  the  priests  followed  the 
soldiers,  and  found  all  thought  of  general  opposition 
gone.  Within  six  years  after  the  fall  of  Mexico 
200,000  Christians  had  been  enrolled,  and  by  155 1  it 
was  claimed  that  over  one  million  persons  had  been 
baptized  by  the  Franciscans  alone,  while  the  Dominicans, 
Augustinians,  and  Jesuits  followed  with  their  stories  of 
wonderful  conversions.  The  record  in  South  America 
was  similar,  and  by  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century 
there  had  been  as  great  a  change  as  in  the  third  century 


Christian  Lands  351 

of  Christian  progress  in  the  East,  although  in  some 
places,  notably  Paraguay,  the  bitter  cruelty  of  the 
Spaniards  made  the  efforts  of  the  Franciscans  useless, 
and  the  natives  only  yielded  to  Christianity  when  the 
Jesuits  secured  the  reconversion  of  the  conquerors  and 
established  their  own  rule.  So  far  as  appears  there 
was  no  effort  at  pressure.  There  was  first  the  peculiar 
weakness  of  the  people,  indicated  by  the  fact  that  Cortcz 
had  only  700  men  in  his  army  and  Pizarro  conquered 
Peru  with  183  men.  The  same  weakness  made  them 
amenable  to  the  influence  of  the  missionaries,  whose 
task,  even  apart  .from  the  support  of  the  government,  was 
comparatively  an  easy  one.  In  addition,  the  people  were 
naturally  religious,  easily  swayed  by  superstition,  but 
of  a  much  gentler  type  than  that  of  the  fierce  tribes 
of  Africa.  They  were  peculiarily  susceptible  to  the  in- 
fluence of  pomp  and  ritual,  and  the  priests  took  advan- 
tage of  many  of  their  ideas  and  adapted  them  to  their 
service  so  that  the  change  was  less  noticeable  than  in 
some  other  countries  and  not  at  all  repugnant.  The 
natural  result  was  a  race  of  devout  Roman  Catholics, 
whose  Christianity  however,  judged  by  the  European 
standard,  even  as  attested  by  French  priests,  lacked 
moral  power.  The  situation  was  not  improved  by  the 
influx  of  a  vast  number  of  Europeans,  generally  of  the 
lowest  classes,  who  brought  with  them  the  vices  and  few 
if  any  of  the  virtues  of  the  Old  World  and,  freed  from 
the  slightest  restraint,  ran  riot  in  vice  and  crime  until, 
in  about  a  century  after  the  first  mission  in  Mexico,  the 
whole  continent  south  to  Patagonia  was  buried  in  a 
superstition  little  if  any  less  degrading  than  that  which 
it  had  displaced. 

Then  commenced  the  trend  northward.     The  Francis- 


35 2  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

cans  had  made  various  attempts,  unsuccessful  until  1573 
and  1597,  in  Florida  and  New  Mexico.  In  160S  the 
French  Jesuits  established  themselves  on  the  Atlantic 
coast  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Croix  River,  and  soon 
after  commenced  the  famous  Abnakis  mission  in  Maine, 
which  gathered  its  converts  in  every  village  on  the 
Kennebec.  In  1615  Franciscan  Recollets  (Recollects) 
started  the  mission  among  the  Hurons  or  Wyandots 
near  Quebec,  followed  by  tlie  Jesuits  (1669)  among  the 
Iroquois  south  of  Montreal.  These  missions  had  a  very 
different  history  from  those  to  the  south.  The  Indians 
themselves  were  of  a  much  more  hardy,  independent 
type,  but  the  chiief  difficulty  probably  was  the  bitter 
animosity  aroused  by  the  wars  between  the  French  and 
English.  For  a  century  and  a  half  the  contest  con- 
tinued, and  with  the  final  victory  of  the  English  the 
missions  practically  disappeared,  though  the  Catholic 
Church  kept  its  hold  on  the  French  colonists  of  Quebec 
and  Montreal.  A  similar  experience  attended  the  mis- 
sions near  the  Great  Lakes,  commenced  by  Jesuits  in 
1 64 1.  Just  as  these  closed,  another  move  westward  was 
made  in  1769,  by  Franciscans,  who  gave  the  seaport 
of  California  its  name,  and  a  number  of  mission  colonies 
were  established.  From  that  time  little  aggressive  work 
was  done,  until  of  late  years  the  Church  has  revived  its 
interest  and  carries  on  school  and  mission  work  among 
the  remaining  tribes. 

Protestant  Missions :  The  Eskimos. — Work  for 
the  Eskimos  was  commenced  in  1721  by  Hans  Egede, 
who  went  from  Denmark  to  Greenland  about  the  same 
time  that  Ziegenbalg  went  to  India.  A  few  years  later 
the  Moravians  went  to  his  assistance,  and  largely  due  to 
their  labours,  the  country  is  in  the  main  Christian,  al- 


Christian  Lands  353 

though  work  is  still  carried  on  in  some  of  the  settlements. 
Then  followed  the  mission  to  Labrador,  also  by  the  Mo- 
ravians (1752),  now  chiefly  under  the  care  of  the  London 
society  in  association  with  that  at  Herrnhut.  There  has 
been  a  good  deal  of  commercial  enterprise  connected 
with  it,  and  the  mission .  has  encountered  considerable 
opposition  from  the  Hudson  Bay  and  other  trading  com- 
panies. It  has  been  through  some  very  bitter  experiences 
and  is  still  a  most  difficult  field,  but  has  of  late  come  into 
more  of  public  notice  through  Labrador  explorers  and 
especially  Dr.  Grenfell's  work  among  the  fishermen  of 
the  coast. 

Alaska  was  purchased  by  the  United  States  in  1867, 
but  it  was  not  until  1876  that  a  mission  was  established, 
the  Presbyterians  sending  to  Fort  Wrangel  an  Indian, 
Peter  Mackay.  The  next  year ,  Sheldon  Jackson  com- 
menced his  work  which  has  done  so  much  for  the  de- 
velopment as  well  as  the  Christianizing  of  the  Territory. 
The  Moravians  followed  (1886),  the  American  Missionary 
Association  (Congregational,  1890),  and  since  then  other 
denominations  are  working  both  for  the  settlers  and  the 
native  Indians  and  Eskimos. 

The  Indians  ;  North  America The  first  Protes- 
tant efforts  to  evangelize  the  Indians  were  undertaken  as 
part  of  parochial  work  by  two  pastors,  Thomas  May- 
hew,  Jr.,  and  John  Eliot,  at  Martha's  Vineyard  (1643) 
and  Roxbury  (1646).  By  1674  there  were  three  churches 
and  considerably  over  four  thousand  Indian  Christians. 
The  treatment  by  which  this  Christian  community  was 
practically  destroyed  is  one  of  the  most  disgraceful  epi- 
sodes in  American  history,  and  for  fifty  years  there  ap- 
pears to  have  been  little  additional  effort  made  to  reach 
them,  though  Eliot's  Bible,  completed  in   1663,  passed 


3J4  T^^  Missionary  Enterprise 

through  two  editions,  and  the  work  of  the  New  England 
Company  (1649)  was  not  stopped.  In  1700  the  Church 
of  England  at  the  suggestion  of  the  governor  of  New 
York,  sent  a  missionary  to  the  Mohawks ;  and  there  were 
quite  a  number  of  individual  efforts,  as  those  of  David 
Brainerd  (1747)  on  the  Hudson,  and  of  Jonathan  Ed- 
wards at  Stockbridge,  Mass.  (1751).  The  general  im- 
pression, however,  seems  to  have  been  that  there  was  not 
much  use  in  trying  to  Christianize  the  Indians,  and 
through  the  eighteenth  century  there  was  very  little  organ- 
ized eflfort,  except  that  commenced  by  the  Moravians  in 
^735  ^"d  carried  on  in  Georgia,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio, 
New  York,  and  a  number  of  Western  states,  often  under 
the  most  difficult  circumstances  of  opposition  on  the  part 
of  the  whites. 

The  War  of  the  Revolution  broke  up  whatever  work 
existed  in  the  United  States,  and  the  years  that  followed 
were  too  much  occupied  with  national  development  to 
think  much  about  the  Indians.  With  the  rise  of  the 
missionary  spirit  early  in  this  century,  however,  they 
were  the  first  objects  of  interest,  and  the  earliest  societies 
were  all  formed  for  work  among  them.  This  was  true 
of  the  American  Board  and  the  other  organizations  that 
followed,  all  of  which  looked  upon  the  pagans  at  home  as 
having  at  least  an  equal,  if  not  a  prior,  claim  to  that  of 
the  heathen  abroad.  The  result  was  that  it  was  not  long 
before  mission  work  was  established  in  every  part  of  the 
country,  and  missionaries  went  to  their  fields  among  the 
Nez  Perces,  Cherokees,  Choctaws,  Dakotas,  Sioux,  etc., 
with  the  same  earnestness  and  devotion  as  those  to  India, 
Africa,  and  the  Pacific.  The  annals,  too,  of  those  days 
show  success  and  heroism  equal  to  those  of  other  fields. 
There   was,   however,   a   constantly    increasing   element 


Christian  Lands  355 

which  made  the  work  both  more  difficult  and  less  neces- 
sary. As  settlement  spread  westward  and  the  territory 
was  absorbed  by  the  whites,  the  reservation  principle  was 
adopted  for  the  Indians,  and  the  missionaries  found  them- 
selves fighting  the  vices,  not  of  heathenism,  but  of  civili- 
zation. They  became  home  rather  than  foreign  mission- 
aries, and  the  fact  was  recognized  by  their  transference 
to  the  home  boards  of  the  Churches,  which  now  care  for 
them. 

North  of  the  United  States  the  situation  has  been  dif- 
ferent. The  slower  progress  of  the  white  settlements  has 
given  the  work  of  caring  for  the  Indians  of  the  West  and 
Northwest,  to  a  greater  degree,  the  appearance  of  for- 
eign missions.  One  of  the  most  effective  agencies  is 
still,  as  it  has  been  since  1826,  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  of  England,  although  the  various  denominations, 
Methodist,  Presbyterian,  Baptist,  and  Congregational, 
have  regularly  organized  work.  The  famous  enterprise 
of  Mr.  Duncan,  inaugurated  at  Metlakahtla  under  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  and  transferred  to  the  Alaskan 
border,  is  an  instance  of  what  might  have  been  ac- 
complished had  missionary  effort  not  so  frequently  been 
neutralized  by  political  ambitions. 

Central  and  South  America. — Protestant  missions 
to  the  Indians  of  these  countries  have  been  very  limited. 
In  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  Von  Weltz, 
after  failing  to  arouse  a  missionary  spirit  in  Holland,  de- 
voted himself  to  work  in  Dutch  Guiana,  where  he  died. 
The  Moravians  also  attempted  in  1738  to  establish  a 
work  among  the  Arrawak  Indians  of  Surinam  (Guiana), 
but  it  was  never  very  successful  and  was  given  up  in 
1808.  Since  the  establishment  of  missions  in  Mexico, 
attention   has   been  directed   to   the   Indian  tribes  still 


35^  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

existent  in  the  mountains,  and  the  Methodist  and  Presby- 
terian boards  especially  have  met  with  considerable  suc- 
cess among  them.  The  Moravians  have  also  since  1847 
carried  on  a  mission  among  the  Indians  on  the  Mosquito 
Coast  of  Central  America.  In  South  America,  however, 
work  among  the  native  races  has  been  prosecuted  with 
vigour  and  a  good  measure  of  success.  The  impulse  was 
given  by  Captain  Allen  Gardiner  of  the  British  navy, 
who  made  repeated  attempts  to  reach  the  Indian  tribes 
along  the  west  coast,  but  was  constantly  thwarted  by  the 
hostility  of  the  Roman  Catholic  priests.  At  last  he 
secured  (1844)  the  formation  of  the  Patagonian  Mis- 
sionary Society  for  work  among  the  natives  of  Tierra  del 
Fuego.  His  tragic  death  accomplished  even  more  than 
his  life,  and  the  society,  enlarged  under  the  name  of  the 
South  American  Missionary  Society,  has  done  and  is 
doing  a  good  work  among  those  races  all  over  the  con- 
tinent, especially  among  the  Araucanians  of  Chile,  and 
those  of  the  Paraguayan  Chaco.  It  was  the  record  of  the 
Fuegian  mission  of  this  society  that  drew  from  Charles 
Darwin  his  earnest  tribute  to  the  power  of  Christianity 
over  the  most  brutish  specimens  of  the  human  race. 
Other  societies,  Methodist,  Presbyterian,  and  Baptist,  do 
as  much  as  possible  for  these  races,  but  their  chief  atten- 
tion is  directed  to  the  Roman  Catholics.  The  Bible 
societies  have  reached  them  by  a  system  of  col  portage, 
but  have  been  greatly  hindered  by  their  illiteracy. 

There  is  the  same  general  condition  in  South  as  in 
North  America,  only  more  tardy  of  development.  The 
nomad  tribal  life  disappears  with  the  extension  of  good 
government ;  then  comes  amalgamation  with  the  white 
settlers,  and  little  by  little  they  are  destined  to  disappear 
as  a  distinct  factor.     As  the  Jesuits  discovered  in  Para- 


Christian  Lands  357 

guay,  so  the  modern  Protestant  missionary  realizes  that  the 
first  step  is  the  conversion  of  the  new  settlers. 

In  the  general  extension  of  missionary  work,  compara- 
tively little  attention  has  been  directed  to  the  negroes  of 
the  West  Indies,  Central  America  and  the  north  coast  of 
South  America.  The  effect  of  foreign  rule  in  each  sec- 
tion was  completely  to  wipe  out  the  original  Indian  races, 
who  were  replaced  by  slaves  brought  from  Africa  and  by 
colonists  from  Spain.  The  treatment  of  the  negroes  was 
terrible,  and  their  general  condition  such  as  to  excite  the 
pity  of  all  who  knew  of  it.  The  first  mission  of  the 
Moravians  was  to  the  slaves  of  St.  Thomas,  and  they  ex- 
tended their  work  until  it  covered  as  many  of  the  islands 
as  they  were  permitted  to  enter,  the  larger  Spanish 
islands  being  closed  to  them.  They  reached  out  also  to 
the  Bush  negroes  of  Surinam,  as  they  found  the  Arrawak 
Indians  practically  inaccessible.  The  Moravians  have 
been  followed  by  a  number  of  societies,  chiefly  English, 
especially  in  the  English  West  Indies,  Trinidad,  Jamaica, 
Bahamas,  Barbados,  etc.  There  are  also  a  number  of 
local  societies  for  the  same  work.  There  has  been  a 
considerable  development  among  the  coloured  people 
themselves,  and  local  churches  are  doing  good  work. 

Missions  to  Roman  Catholics. — In  a  sense  mis- 
sions in  Roman  Catholic  countries  to  Roman  Catholics 
have  partaken  more  of  the  nature  of  home  than  foreign 
missions,  and  have  always  been  recognized  as  occu- 
pying a  somewhat  different  status  from  missions  to  non- 
Christians,  at  least  in  form.  In  substance  however,  the 
work  in  Mexico  and  Central  and  South  America  has 
varied  very  little  from  that  in  many  Asiatic  lands,  and  its 
early  history  has  been  marked  by  experiences  not  less 
bitter^than  those  in  pagan  regions.    No  hostility  of  Moslem 


358  The  Alissionary  Enterprise 

priests  has  been  more  implacable  than  that  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  hierarchy  in  those  countries,  as  they  have 
seen  influences  enter  which  they  knew  would  infallibly 
destroy  their  own  power.  The  character  of  that  hierarchy 
needs  no  description.  It  has  had  the  absolute  condem- 
nation of  the  authorities  at  Rome,  and  the  few  exceptions 
to  the  general  degradation  have  privately,  when  they 
dared  not  publicly,  expressed  their  appreciation  of  the 
service  rendered  by  Protestant  missions.  It  has  been 
very  largely  the  existence  of  this  element,  however 
small  and  weak,  that  has  influenced  many  to  look 
upon  these  missions  as  of  value  perhaps,  but  not  as  im- 
portant as  those  in  Asia  or  Africa,  while  a  closer  and  more 
accurate  estimate  gives  them  a  place  of  not  less,  per- 
haps even  of  more  importance. 

The  Situation. — The  most  prominent  fact  in  all  these 
lands  from  the  missionary  standpoint  has  been  the  abso- 
lute ignorance  of  the  Bible.  This  has  been  due  partly 
to  the  general  illiteracy,  the  result  of  the  refusal  of  Rome 
to  encourage  common  schools  ;  more  to  the  position  taken 
by  the  Church  that  as  "  no  Scripture  is  of  private  interpre- 
tation," it  is  not  only  unsafe  but  wrong  to  put  the  Word 
of  God  in  the  hands  of  those  untrained  in  the  interpreta- 
tion given  by  the  ecclesiastical  authorities.  Even  the 
authorized  versions  of  the  Bible  were  considered  the  ex- 
clusive property  of  the  priests.  The  natural  result  was 
that  even  they,  brought  up  among  the  people,  came  to 
look  upon  the  Bible  as  a  sort  of  fetish,  in  no  sense  a  book 
of  practical  guidance  in  thought  and  life.  That  there 
were  exceptions  to  this  is  abundantly  evident,  but  it  re- 
mains true  that  the  great  mass  of  the  priests  were  about 
as  ignorant  of  the  Bible  as  the  people  to  whom  they 
ministered.     Another  fact  was  the  conduct  of  all  services 


Christian  Lands  359 

in  Lalin,  really  an  unknown  tongue,  which  resulted  in 
giving  them  a  merely  spectacular  character.  The  races 
among  which  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  been 
strongest,  have  been  those  of  the  most  emotional  type, 
and  the  impressive  ceremonies  of  the  ritual  have  always 
had  a  profound  effect,  in  \yhich  dread  and  awe  have  been 
the  dominant  elements.  Being  emotional  they  have  also 
been  intensely  superstitious,  in  the  sense  of  being  con- 
scious of  the  immediate  power  of  supernatural  forces. 
The  priests,  always  including  particularly  the  more  ig- 
norant, took  advantage  of  this  and  instituted  a  perfect 
reign  of  terror.  Their  rule  was  scarcely  less  severe  than 
that  of  their  predecessors,  the  riiedicine  men,  and  the 
sacraments  according  to  the  tenets  of  the  Church  came  to 
be,  under  their  teaching,  the  only  means  of  escape  from 
the  most  horrible  disaster.  Here  again  it  is  to  be  re- 
membered that  there  were  exceptions,  but  it  is  certain 
that  so  far  as  their  religious  life  was  concerned,  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  and  of  the  priests  were  only  one  stage 
removed  from  the  paganism  of  the  adjoining  Indian  tribes. 

In  the  general  moral  and  social  life,  the  conditions 
were  of  the  worst.  Not  even  Islam  has  more  thoroughly 
divorced  morals  from  religion  than  did  the  great  ma- 
jority of  the  Roman  Catholic  hierarchy  of  Mexico,  Cen- 
tral and  South  America.  Details  are  unnecessary.  It 
is  sufficient  to  state  that  as  general  intercourse  between 
the  nations  increased  and  the  situation  became  known  to 
all  the  world,  the  authorities  at  Rome  were  forced  to  take 
notice,  and  no  Protestant  criticisms  have  been  more 
severe  than  the  censure,  by  Papal  authority,  of  the  con- 
duct of  the  priesthood. 

Protestant  \A(^ork. — As  the  Jesuits  in  Paraguay  came 
to   the   conviction   that   their   first   work  was  with    the 


360  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

Spaniards,  so  the  great  majority  of  Protestant  workers 
realized  that  an  essential  to  the  conversion  of  the  Indians 
was  that  of  the  Christians,  and  it  was  not  long  before  it 
became  a  settled  policy  to  work  among  the  Roman 
Catholic  communities  along  much  the  same  lines  as  those 
adopted  in  other  lands.  There  was  of  course  a  some- 
what different  method  in  the  presentation  of  truth  ;  the 
appeal  was  altered  by  the  fact  of  a  common  confession. 
Many  of  the  obstacles  peculiar  to  other  fields  were 
naturally  lacking,  but  were  replaced  by  others  not  less 
difficult  to  overcome.  Still  the  general  character  of  the 
work  was  essentially  the  same.  There  was  the  same 
emphasis  on  the  "one  mediator  between  God  and  man, 
the  Man  Christ  Jesus ;  "  the  absolute  worthlessness  of 
rites  and  ceremonies,  even  of  sacraments,  except  as  they 
signified  the  worship  of  the  heart ;  the  necessity  of  a 
pure,  true  life  as  well  as  of  a  correct  creed ;  the  educa- 
tion in  the  most  elementary  principles  of  that  purity  and 
truth.  There  was  the  advantage  and  it  was  a  great  one, 
that  the  illiteracy,  while  extensive,  was  less  than  in  other 
fields,  and  that  there  was  a  presumption  in  favour  of  the 
Bible  as  the  Word  of  God.  The  colporteur  thus  could 
accomplish  what  was  not  merely  difficult,  but  impossible 
to  the  preacher,  and  the  great  pioneer  agencies  of  those 
lands  have  been  the  Bible  Societies.  The  seeds  of 
evangelical  Christianity  were  sown  in  Mexico  by  some 
stray  copies  of  the  New  Testament  carried  in  by  the 
soldiers  in  General  Scott's  army.  Whatever  has  been  ac- 
complished in  South  America  has  almost  invariably  been 
inaugurated  by  Bible  distribution.  In  the  early  years  of 
the  new  republics  there  was  a  very  general  adoption  of 
the  Lancasterian  system  of  education,  by  which  older 
scholars  were  utilized  in  teaching  the  younger  and  the 


Christian  Lands  361 

use  of  Scripture  selections  for  reading  was  common.  It 
was  noted  with  surprise  and  pleasure  that  not  only  pupils, 
but  adults  and  even  priests  welcomed  what  was  to  them 
a  new  book.  Then  came  a  change  on  every  hand,  and 
the  days  of  the  Inquisition  were  not  more  bitter  as  the 
hierarchy  came  to  see  that. the  result  of  Bible  reading  was 
a  lessening  of  their  influence  and  their  income.  From 
friends  they  became  most  violent  opponents,  bringing 
every  conceivable  charge  of  falsification,  deception,  and 
infidelity  against  the  Bible  agents.  The  seed  had  al- 
ready been  sown,  and  as  the  missionary  societies  came  in 
they  found  on  every  hand  those  who  were  ready  to  listen, 
and  to  accept  a  simpler  faith. 

Education  also  has  had  a  powerful  influence  and  the 
colleges  and  high  grade  schools  established  wherever 
missionaries  have  gone  have  enlisted  in  their  behalf  the 
endorsement  of  the  more  patriotic.  It  has  been  very 
largely  due  to  the  mission  influence  that  decrees  of 
religious  liberty,  at  first  formal  and  promulgated  rather 
because  it  seemed  the  appropriate  thing  for  a  republic  to 
do,  have  become  practical.  In  this  respect,  as  indeed 
in  others,  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  apportion  rightly  the 
influences  that  have  been  at  work.  Political  relations 
with  other  nations,  immigration,  increased  facilities  for 
intercommunication,  growing  prosperity,  the  responsibil- 
ities attending  self-government;  these  and  others  have 
had  their  share,  but  it  is  the  uniform  testimony  of  careful 
observers,  not  merely  friends  of  missions  but  government 
officials  and  citizens,  that  the  work  of  the  various  mis- 
sionary societies,  Presbyterian,  Methodist,  Congrega- 
tional and  others,  has  contributed  much,  by  its  emphasis 
on  purity  of  life  in  the  family  and  the  individual  and  the 
simple  faith  in  God  it  has  taught. 


362  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

While  the  most  prominent  work  of  missions  in  Chris- 
tian lands  and  among  Christian  peoples  has  been  on  the 
American  continent,  not  a  little  has  been  done  in  Europe, 
some  of  it  of  great  interest. 

Austria. — The  occasion  for  the  mission  work  in 
Austria  was  somewhat  peculiar.  There  is  no  chapter  of 
church  history  more  thrilling  or  that  appeals  more  to  the 
sympathy  of  evangelical  Christians,  than  thatwhich  records 
the  experience  of  the  Bohemian  and  Moravian  Brethren 
who  against  such  odds  preserved  the  faith  of  their  great 
leader,  John  Hus.  After  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  they 
were  scattered  far  and  wide.  A  remnant  finding  refuge 
in  Saxony,  became  the  Moravian  Church  under  the  lead 
of  Count  Zinzendorf.  Others  remained  in  isolated  com- 
munities in  Moravia  and  Bohemia,  many  of  them  yield- 
ing under  the  pressure  of  Austrian  imperialism  and  be- 
coming Roman  Catholics,  though  with  no  very  good 
grace.  To  bring  to  these  the  fellowship  of  the  Western 
churches  which  had  reaped  the  fruit  of  the  labours  and 
sacrifices  of  their  ancestors,  was  not  merely  a  legitimate 
but  a  most  attractive  task.  Accordingly  when  the 
American  Board  took  over  the  work  of  the  American  and 
Foreign  Christian  Union  in  1870,  it  established  two 
stations,  in  Briinn,  Moravia,  and  Prague,  Bohemia. 
The  obstacles  met  by  these  workers  were  almost  beyond 
belief.  Publicservice  was  absolutely  denied  them.  They 
were  not  even  allowed  to  have  guests  at  family  devotions. 
Every  word,  every  act,  was  watched  with  a  jealous 
scrutiny  surpassing  even  that  of  the  Moslem.  A  variety 
of  causes,  chief  among  which  was  health,  occasioned  the 
giving  up  of  the  work  in  Moravia,  but  the  station  at 
Prague  has  been  continued,  and  after  years  of  patient, 
wise,  unintermitting  labour,  the  principles  for  which  Hus 


Christian  Lands  363 

gave  up  his  life  are  again  a  mighty  power  in  his  city,  and 
the  light  is  shining  out  over  the  whole  empire.  This  is 
by  no  means  the  only  work.  Bible  col  portage  under  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  has  sown  the  seeds  of 
a  truer  Christian  life,  and  there  have  been  not  a  few 
workers,  usually  private  .and  unconnected  with  regular 
missionary  societies,  who  have  done  noble  service.  The 
Moravian  Church  has  also  a  most  useful  work  in  what  is 
really  its  home  field. 

Spain  and  Italy. — A  variety  of  organizations  have 
been  at  work  in  Spain,  but  none  have  achieved  marked 
success,  except  as  the  Bible  Society  has  reached  individ- 
uals. The  most  prominent  effort  to-day,  and  the  one 
which  appears  to  give  greatest  promise  of  success  in  break- 
ing down  opposition  and  giving  opportunity  for  develop- 
ment, is  the  educational  work  under  the  auspices  of  the 
American  Board,  and  represented  by  the  American  In- 
stitute for  Girls,  formerly  at  San  Sebastian,  now  at  Madrid. 
Probably  no  single  college  has  achieved  so  remarkable  a 
victory  over  national  prejudice  and  ecclesiastical  hostility 
as  has  this,  due  to  a  very  great  degree  to  the  remark- 
able personality  of  its  founder  Mrs.  Alice  Gordon  Gu- 
lick. 

The  peculiar  political  conditions  in  Italy,  resulting  in 
the  abolition  of  the  ':emporal  power  of  the  Pope  outside 
the  bounds  of  the  Vatican,  gave  opportunity  for  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  general  evangelistic  work.  The 
Waldensian  Church  enlarged  its  borders  and  receiving 
aid  from  England  and  America,  has  accomplished  much. 
As  in  other  continental  lands,  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  has  done  most  excellent  work.  The  most 
prominent  foreign  mission  is  that  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  which  has  a  fine  building  in  Rome. 


364  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

The  Oriental  Churches. — The  experience  of  the 
American  Board  in  connection  with  the  Armenians  and 
Greeks  opened  the  eyes  of  the  Western  world  to  the  situa- 
tion in  the  other  branches  of  what  is  generally  known  as 
the  "  Eastern  Church."  In  this  there  are  a  number  of  di- 
visions or  Churches:  the  Orthodox  Oriental  Church,  often 
called  the  Greek  Church ;  the  Armenian,  the  Nestorian,  the 
Jacobite,  the  Coptic  and  the  Abyssinian  Churches.  The 
so-called  Greek  Church  includes  a  number  of  branches, 
all  holding  the  same  doctrine,  observing  the  same  ritual, 
but  independent  of  each  other  in  ecclesiastical  govern- 
ment. They  are  the  four  Patriarchates  of  Constantinople, 
Jerusalem,  Antioch  and  Alexandria,  each  with  its  Synod, 
of  which  the  Patriarch  is  presiding  officer  ;  the  Church 
of  Russia,  whose  supreme  ecclesiastical  authority  is  the 
Holy  Synod  at  St.  Petersburg  ;  the  Church  of  Greece, 
with  its  Holy  Synod  at  Athens  ;  and  a  number  of  inde- 
pendent metropolitan  sees,  Austro-Hungary,  Bukowina, 
Servia,  Roumania,  Bosnia,  Herzegovina,  Bulgaria,  Cy- 
prus and  Crete. 

Missionary  work  among  the  Armenians,  Bulgarians, 
Nestorians  and  Jacobites  (of  Mesopotamia),  has  been 
already  spoken  of  in  the  chapter  on  Western  Asia,  as  has 
also  that  among  the  Copts  in  Egypt.  Several  efforts  to 
reach  the  Abyssinians  have  so  far  proved  unsuccessful, 
although  very  recently  the  restrictions  have  been  some- 
what removed.  Considerable  work  has  been  done 
among  the  Greeks  of  Asia  Minor,  and  some  in  Greece, 
but  comparatively  little,  owing  to  the  determined  oppo- 
sition of  the  ecclesiastical  autliorities  to  the  use  of  the 
Scriptures  in  the  modern  Greek.  With  the  increasing  in- 
tercourse with  Western  nations,  especially  through  emigra- 
tion to  America,  these  barriers  can   scarcely  fail  to  be 


Christian  Lands  365 

broken  down,  and  already  a  change  is  becoming  apparent 
especially  in  the  Greek  communities  of  Asia  Minor,  indi- 
cating a  new  church  life. 

Russia. — The  one  Church  that  has  seemed  to  be 
most  completely  beyond  the  reach  of  evangelistic  effort, 
has  been  that  of  Russia.  No  Moslem  government  has 
been  more  rigid  than  the  Holy  Synod.  Any  change  of 
faith  except  to  that  of  the  State  Church,  was  absolutely 
forbidden  by  law.  No  Moslem  could  become  a  Protes- 
tant, no  Armenian  or  Nestorian  a  Protestant,  no  Protes- 
tant an  Armenian.  Into  whatever  religious  faith  a  man 
was  born,  in  that  Jie  must  remain,  except  as  he  chose  to 
enter  the  fold  of  the  Orthodox  Church.  The  one  fact 
that  gave  encouragement  was  the  recognition  of  the  right 
of  the  people  to  the  Bible  in  their  own  tongue.  In  this 
respect  the  Russian  Church  was  far  in  advance  of  the 
Church  of  Greece.  There  was  a  Russian  Bible  Society, 
which  had  relations  with  the  American  and  the  British 
Bible  Societies,  and  a  certain  amount  of  colportage  was 
allowed.  Still  the  only  edition  available  for  many  years 
was  a  most  cumbrous  one,  and  while  nominally  there  was 
freedom  for  its  use,  practically  that  was  much  restricted. 
At  the  time  of  the  Russo-Turkish  War  (1877-78)  col- 
portage within  the  lines  of  the  Russian  army  was  freely 
carried  on,  and  numbers  of  Bibles  of  a  portable  edition, 
published  by  the  British  Society,  were  sold  by  American 
and  British  agents  to  soldiers  and  officers.  It  was  subse- 
quently stated  on  good  authority  that  on  the  return  of 
the  troops,  these  were  all  seized  at  Odessa  and  destroyed. 

One  result  of  the  repressive  laws  was  the  develop- 
ment of  a  large  number  of  sects.  Among  these  the  most 
noted  were  the  Stundists  and  Molokans.  The  former 
were  scarcely  a  distinct  body.     The  term  was  applied  to 


366  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

those  who  were  known  to  have  special  hours  for  prayer 
(Gebets  stunde,  hour  of  prayer),  and  these  were  mostly 
of  German  origin.  The  Molokans  were  a  more  homo- 
geneous company  who  rejected  any  ordained  ministry 
and  became  practically  Unitarians.  All  were  exiled,  the 
Molokans  chiefly  to  the  Caucasus,  where  they  formed  a 
thriving  community ;  the  Stundists  to  Siberia,  over 
which  they  scattered,  carrying  everywhere  the  conception 
of  an  evangelical  life.  But  it  was  not  only  among  these 
that  there  grew  up  a  spiritual  life.  In  St.  Petersburg 
there  was  a  company  of  earnest  Christian  people,  some 
of  high  position  and  wealth.  Count  Pashkof  being  one  of 
the  most  prominent,  and  associated  with  them  was  an 
EngUshman,  Lord  Radstock.  They  suffered  much  for 
their  profession  of  faith,  but  by  a  wise  prudence,  avoided 
extreme  measures  on  the  part  of  the  government.  A 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  was  also  established  in  St.  Petersburg,  which 
has  had  a  wide  influence  for  Christian  life.  More  re- 
cently Baron  Uxkiill  has  told  the  story  of  his  own  "con- 
version "  and  the  needs  of  the  little  group  of  Baptist 
communities. 

Since  the  proclamation  of  religious  liberty,  gradually 
becoming  practical,  a  new  impulse  has  been  given  to 
evangelistic  work,  which  is  already  being  improved. 
Careful  examination  of  the  situation  has  led  to  the  con- 
viction that  it  is  better  to  strengthen  the  life  within  the 
empire  than  to  endeavour  to  introduce  organizations  from 
without. 

Protestant  Lands. — The  missionary  enterprises  that 
have  aroused  most  of  the  unfriendly  comment  have  been 
those  carried  on  by  American  denominations  in  the 
Protestant  countries  of  Europe,  particularly  those  of  the 
Baptists,     Methodists     and     Seventh    Day    Adventists. 


Christian  Lands  367 

Earnest  protest  has  been  expressed   by  many  in   those 
lands,  not  so  much  perhaps  against  the  work  in  itself,  as 
against  its  classification  as  "foreign  missions,"  thus  ap- 
parently putting  the  evangelical  communities  of  Germany, 
Holland,  Scandinavia  and  Australia  on  a  par  with  the 
Moslem,   Hindu  and  Animistic  sections.     In  fact  these 
enterprises  are  not  conducted  on  the  same  basis  as  the 
missions   of    the  same  denominations  in  non-Christian 
lands.     They  are  in  truth  a  form  of  the  same  work  and 
conducted  in  the  same  way  as  that  within  the  bounds  of 
the  United  States.     Their  ministry  is  local,  not  Ameri- 
can, and  while  .the  Methodist  churches  are  represented 
by  conferences  in  the  General  Conference,  as  also  are  the 
Seventh  Day  Adventist  churches,  they  are,  for  all  prac- 
tical purposes,  independent  in  their  government.     Their 
origin  too  is  traced,  not  so  much  to  direct  missionary  ex- 
tension like  that  in  non- Christian  lands,  as  to  the  accord 
by  American  churches  of  these  denominations  to  the  ex- 
pressed wish  of  natives  of  those  countries,  that  churches 
of  those  orders  be  established  there.     If  work  of  that 
nature  could   be  entirely  dissociated  in  its  management 
and  presentation   from  what  is  regarded  by  these  same 
denominations  as  distinctively   foreign  missionary  work, 
the  result  of  not  a  little  misapprehension  would  be  avoided. 
Any  such  survey  is  incomplete  without  a  reference,  how- 
ever brief,  to  the  degree  in  which  foreign  and  home  mis- 
sions are  more  and  more  intertwined,  until  the  distinc- 
tion is  becoming  scarcely  recognizable.      Immigration  is 
bringing  to  our  shores  by  thousands  the  very  people  that 
the  churches  have  been  seeking  to  reach  in  their  own 
lands.     Many  are  returning  to  their  homes,  some  per- 
manently, some  for  brief  visits,  carrying  to  China,  Japan, 
India,  Turkey,  Africa,  South  America,  Europe,  testimony 


368  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

as  to  the  quality  of  the  Christianity  that  is  being  preached 
and  lived  in  this  land.  Seed  sown  by  the  foreign  mission- 
ary is  bringing  forth  fruit  in  city  and  home  mission  fields, 
while  the  labours  of  those  at  home  find  their  results  in 
far  distant  lands.  Less  and  less  should  there  be  any 
distinction  between  the  two  departments  of  work  except 
as  it  is  essential  for  their  most  effective  conduct.  I'he 
kingdom  of  God  is  one ;  the  army  may  be  enrolled  in 
different  corps,  but  the  Leader  is  the  same,  and  there 
should  be  harmony  not  diversity  in  the  general  conduct 
of  the  campaign.  Particularly  is  this  true  in  the  relations 
of  the  various  branches  of  the  Christian  Church.  The 
time  has  gone  by  when  the  purpose  should  be  to  make 
Roman  Catholics,  Greeks,  Armenians,  or  others,  Prot- 
estants, still  less  any  particular  kind  of  Protestants. 
Rather  should  all  be  urged  to  a  truer,  deeper,  Christian 
life,  and  if  that  can  be  secured  within  the  old  com- 
munions, so  much  the  better.  That  it  is  thus  being  se- 
cured is  the  testimony  on  every  hand. 


XXII 

THE  IMMEDIATE  NEED 

A  GENERAL  survey  of  the  missionary  enterprise 
as  set  forth  in  the  preceding  chapters,  reveals 
certain  facts  which  may  be  grouped  under  five 
heads  :  i.  What  has  been  done.  2.  What  remains  to  be 
done.  3.  The -conditions  of  the  best  success.  4.  The 
means  and  resources  available.  ,  5.  The  immediate  need. 
I.  What  Has  Been  Done. — The  most  apparent 
fact  is  that  vi^ith  very  few  exceptions,  and  those  of  rela- 
tively minor  importance,  every  section  of  the  world  is  ,, 
open  to  Christian  missionaries.  The  great  empires  of 
Asia — India,  China,  Japan,  are  not  merely  welcoming  ^ 
them,  but  urging  them  to  come.  Siberia  has  unlocked 
its  doors,  and  the  preacher  may  follow  the  colporteur 
through  its  length  and  breadth.  Korea  is  already  hailed 
as  a  Christian  nation.  The  inland  of  Arabia  is  opening 
while  Persia  is  awakening  to  new  life.  The  watchers  on 
the  mountains  of  Tibet  see  the  light  dawning.  Afghan- 
istan is  still  closed,  ?s  are  the  Moslem  sections  of  Central 
Asia,  yet  already  there  are  many  signs  that  the  bolts 
may  be  broken  and  another  decade  may  probably  see 
the  gospel  proclaimed  not  only  in  Cabul  but  in 
Samarcand.  Even  the  Southeastern  Asian  colonies  of 
France  have  been  entered,  not  by  the  seaport,  but  from 
the  mountains,  as  the  hillmen  of  Laos  cross  the  border 
to  their  fellows  of  Tongking.  So  of  the  great  Malaysian 
Archipelago,  broadening  out   into  Melanesia  and  Poly- 

369 


370  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

nesia,  with  its  islands  famous  alike  for  their  beauty  and 
the  ferocity  and  degradation  of  their  inhabitants.  The 
seed  sown  by  Williams,  Chalmers  and  Sehvyn  has  cov- 
ered the  rocks  with  verdure  and  transformed  cannibal 
orgies  into  Christian  festivals.  Not  that  every  island  has 
been  won,  but  tiie  hardest  battles  have  been  fought  and 
the  victory  is  close  at  hand. 

Turning  to  Africa,  with  the  single  exception  of  the 
Moslem  Soudan,  the  missionary  has  free  access  to 
every  part  of  what  is  no  longer  the  Dark  Continent. 
Abyssinia  has  reversed  its  policy  of  centuries,  the  last  of 
the  sections  of  the  great  Eastern  Church  to  welcome  the 
new  light  which  is  the  old.  Possibly  the  latest  door  to 
turn  on  its  hostile  hinges  is  that  of  Algiers,  where  a 
French  governor  has  given  welcome  to  a  Methodist  mis- 
sionary bishop. 

In  no  region  perhaps  has  the  change  been  more 
marked  than  in  South  America,  long  known  as  the 
Neglected  Continent,  now  better  termed  the  Continent 
of  Opportunity.  Not  a  country  but  where  in  one  form  or 
another  the  gospel  of  a  living  Christianity  is  being 
preached.  Ecuador  and  Bolivia  have  waived  their  preju- 
dices, offspring  of  centuries  of  priestcraft,  and  the  forests 
of  the  Amazon  have  been  threaded  by  the  Bible  colpor- 
teur, opening  the  way  for  the  missionary. 

Whichever  way  we  look,  mountain  ranges,  broad 
rivers,  inland  seas,  no  longer  prove  barriers  to  the  mes- 
sengers of  the  Cross,  while  hostile  faiths,  ancestral  cus- 
toms, selfish  governments  are  yielding  with  marvellous 
rapidity. 

Less  spectacular,  yet  more  significant,  is  the  fact  that 
in  almost  all  these  lands  thus  opened,  there  is  to-day  an 
intelligent  Christian  community,  not  always  strong,  but 


The  Immediate  Need  371 

growing  stronger  yearly,  monthly  and  even  daily ;  with 
its  own  type  of  character,  its  own  individuality ;  whose 
influence  has  permeated  the  life  of  the  nation  to  a  degree 
realized  by  few. 

Other  facts  there  are  of  scarcely  less  import.  Chris- 
tian education  has  conquered  systems  that  only  a  short 
time  ago  scorned  the  very  name  of  Christian,  and  mis- 
sionary— not  merely  Christian  but  missionary — teachers 
are  sought  for  by  patriotic  leaders,  because  they  can  be 
relied  upon  to  give  to  intellectual  training  the  moral  tone 
without  which  learning  becomes  a  danger  rather  than  a 
help.  Not  merely  the  missionary  colleges,  hut  the  mis- 
sionary schools  have  won  the  first  place  in  Moslem, 
Hindu,  and  Buddhist  lands. 

Christian  philanthropy  has  fed  the  hungry,  clothed 
the  naked,  healed  the  sick,  broken  the  shackles  of  de- 
grading custom,  given  hope  to  the  despairing,  introduced 
a  new  conception  of  that  brotherhood  of  man  which  is 
involved  in  the  fatherhood  of  God,  and  was  exemplified 
by  Him  who  first  taught  men  to  love  one  another. 

At  the  basis  of  all  these,  furnishing  the  substance  for 
their  form,  the  quality  for  their  power,  is  the  open  Bible 
available  in  whole  or  in  part  to  every  race  in  the  world ; 
and  built  on  this  Bible  is  the  Christian  Church,  express- 
ing the  Christian  t'uought  and  purpose  of  the  people, 
already  contributing  its  share  as  an  integral  part  of  the 
Catholic  Church  throughout  the  world. 

2.  What  Remains  to  be  Done. — Here  the  most 
potent  fact  is  that  the  open  doors  have  for  the  most  part 
been  simply  entered,  the  lands  have  by  no  means  been 
occupied.  Dr.  James  L.  Barton,  in  his  book  "The 
Unfinished  Task,"  illustrates  this  most  vividly.  A  few 
of  the  most  salient  points  can  only  be  mentioned.     Africa 


37^  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

has  scarcely  a  mission  station  that  is  not  contiguous  to 
unoccupied  territory,  while  the  situation  in  the  Soudan 
is  much  as  if  in  the  United  States  there  was  one  small 
group  of  labourers  in  Maine  and  another  in  Texas,  with 
no  gospel  influence  between.  In  East  Africa  there  are 
two  sections,  one  of  100,000  and  the  other  150,000 
square  miles  without  a  missionary,  and  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  continent  is  one  of  720,000  square  miles  with  no 
labourers.  India  with  one  per  cent,  of  its  population 
Christian  has  but  one  missionary  worker  for  every 
70,000  people  and  one  ordained  missionary  for  every 
quarter  of  a  million  ;  there  are  large  sections  where  there 
are  not  only  no  missionaries  but  no  native  workers  and 
not  even  a  native  Christian,  so  that  it  is  estimated  by 
those  on  the  field  that  after  fully  allowing  for  the  utmost 
increase  in  the  existing  missionary  agencies,  there  are  in 
India  one  hundred  millions  of  people  who  cannot  hear 
the  gospel  message  in  their  lifetime. 

China,  in  view  of  recent  events,  is  regarded  on  every 
hand  as  the  most  insistent,  if  not  the  most  important, 
mission  field  of  the  world.  The  present  missionary  force, 
estimating  the  population  at  400,000,000,  allows  one 
foreign  worker  to  every  1,120  square  miles  or  every 
104,000  Chinese;  and  one  ordained  missionary  for  every 
5,000  square  miles  and  every  463,000  Chinese  !  More- 
over these  are  not  evenly  distributed.  In  the  province 
of  Shensi  out  of  eighty-eight  large  cities  with  a  popula- 
tion of  8,450,000,  only  two  are  yet  occupied  and  ten 
other  provinces  are  similarly  unsupplied.  Much  the 
same  statements  can  be  made  in  regard  to  Japan,  Siam 
and  Persia,  while  South  America  is  still  practically  virgin 
soil.  A  little  work  is  being  done  for  a  small  portion  of 
the  Indian  tribes  but  the  great  mass  remain  untouched. 


The  Immediate  Need  373 

To  measure  the  entire  work  to  be  done  merely  by 
the  extent  of  territory  to  be  covered  and  the  number 
of  people  to  be  reached  is  far  from  correct.  There 
are  other  obstacles  to  be  overcome,  among  the  gravest 
of  which  are  the  hostility  of  the  people  and  especially 
of  their  religious  leaders  and  governments,  to  anything 
that  looks  towards  the  disintegration- or  overthrow  of 
established  customs,  social  or  religious,  and  the  constant 
opposition  of  evil  to  good,  manifest  even  more  in  mis- 
sion lands  than  at  home,  where  there  is  a  presumption 
at  least  in  favour  of  purity,  honesty  and  truth.  Into 
these  obstacles  enters  as  a  most  important  factor  the 
ignorance  on  the  part  of  missionary  workers  of  the  habit 
of  thought  of  those  lands.  At  times  it  seems  almost  im- 
possible for  an  Occidental  to  appreciate  the  view  point 
of  an  Oriental,  or  for  an  Oriental  to  understand  what  to 
an  Occidental  are  the  axioms  of  every-day  life. 

Perhaps  more  important  than  these  is  the  development 
of  the  indigenous  native  church,  to  the  end  that  it  may 
accomplish  what  to  the  alien  missionary  force  is  impos- 
sible, the  final  conquest  of  its  own  people  for  Christ. 
That  church  has  been  established  and  is  already  develop- 
ing a  healthy  activity ;  but  its  best  is,  and  for  some  time 
to  come  must  be,  but  weak  compared  to  the  task  before 
it.  To  gird  and  fit  it  for  that  task,  needs  all  that  the 
Western  Church  can  give  of  direct  assistance,  in  money 
and  in  workers.  Because  of  the  development  of  the 
national  church  spirit  some  have  felt  that  the  day  of 
the  missionary  had  passed.  Instead,  it  is  just  dawning. 
The  pioneer  work  of  Morrison,  Williams,  Livingstone, 
may  no  longer  be  needed,  but  its  place  has  more  than 
been  taken  by  the  work  of  sympathetic  fellowship  and 
counsel.      The    problems    of  American    cities,    mining 


374  '^^^  Missionary  Enterprise 

sections  and  wide  prairies  are  great,  but  tliey  are  as 
child's  play  to  those  that  face  the  young  churches  of 
India,  Japan,  China,  Africa.  To  meet  those  problems 
they  need  the  most  earnest  Christian  sympathy,  the 
most  intelligent  counsel,  the  most  energetic  support,  that 
churches  with  centuries  of  Christian  training  behind  them 
can  give. 

3.  Conditions  of  the  Best  Success. — The  quality 
of  missionary  success  has  always  been  measured  by  three 
factors:  the  spiritual  life  of  the  individual  Christian ; 
the  education  of  the  Christian  community  ;  the  organi- 
zation of  the  indigenous  Christian  church.  According 
as  these  three  have  been  coordinated,  or  as  one  or  more 
of  them  has  been  disregarded,  has  been  the  strength  or 
weakness,  the  success  or  failure  of  any  particular  phase 
or  department  of  the  missionary  enterprise.  The  first 
factor  conditions  the  aggressive  or  extensive  character  of 
the  Christian  community  ;  the  second  its  development  in 
character  ;  the  third  its  permanency  and  growth.  The 
test  of  missionary  methods  is  their  success  in  these  three 
particulars.     A  brief  survey  will  illustrate. 

The  apostolic  and  early  Christian  period  emphasized 
the  first  and  third,  practically  ignoring  the  second.  The 
result  was  marvellous  extension  and  firm  establishment,' 
but  crystallization  rather  than  development.  The  Middle 
Ages  emphasized  the  third  with  comparatively  little  re- 
gard for  the  first,  and  only  occasional  and  spasmodic  ef- 
forts for  the  second.  The  result Was  the  most  powerful 
hierarchy  the  world  has  known,  a  very  low  grade  of 
Christian  life,  and  growth  only  when  some  individuals 
sought  to  emphasize  the  first  and  second.  Early  Prot- 
estant missions  reverted  to  what  they  felt  to  be  apostolic 
practice  in  regard  to  the  first,  but  to  a  considerable  degree 


The  Immediate  Need  375 

ignored  the  third  and  paid  little  or  no  attention  to  the 
second.  To-day  there  is  not  a  single  mission  inaugurated 
in  that  age  that  has  more  than  a  name,  except  as  it  has 
felt  the  impulse  of  a  different  type.  With  modern  mis- 
sions commenced  a  more  careful  coordination  of  the 
three,  and  yet  there  are  not  lacking  today,  instances  of 
the  experiences  of  the  past.  Strictly  evangelistic  missions, 
like  those  of  the  Plymouth  Brethren,  while  they  have  un- 
doubtedly borne  fruit  in  individual  lives,  are  practically 
a  negligible  quantity  in  meeting  the  great  problems 
facing  the  churches  in  Asia  and  Africa.  Such  societies 
as  the  China  Inla-nd  Mission,  the  Christian  and  Mission- 
ary Alliance  and  a  number  of  similar  organizations,  are 
coming  to  realize,  under  the  pressure  of  experience,  that 
the  mere  preaching  of  the  gospel  to  scattered  individuals, 
or  even  the  gathering  of  converts  into  a  fellowship  that 
has  no  definite  organization  or  special  training,  both  of 
the  leaders  and  the  membership,  falls  far  short  of  the 
full  power  of  an  organized,  educated  Christian  church. 
So  again  there  has  been  in  the  whole  history  of  Chris- 
tianity no  more  lamentable  failure  to  accomplish  the  best 
results  than  has  been  witnessed  repeatedly  in  the  missions 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  in  which  the  Church  has 
been  emphasized  as  the  one  thing  dominant  over  every 
other.  The  noble  service  of  individual  missionaries,  the 
superb  power  of  the  most  complete  organization  have 
been  rendered  futile  for  practical  results  by  the  disregard 
of  general  education,  and  the  lack  of  emphasis  on  a  high 
grade  of  spiritual  life  on  the  part  of  converts,  and  the  ig- 
noring of  varying  intellectual,  social,  and  even  religious 
needs.  A  similar  danger  lurks  in  those  Protestant  mis- 
sions, where  the  "ism"  is  exalted  at  the  expense  of 
natural  growth,  and  the  desire  for  a  world-wide  organiza- 


37^  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

tion  leads  to  forcing  the  Asiatic  or  African  religious  life 
into  the  forms  of  creed  or  polity  adapted  to  America, 
England  or  Germany.  The  native  church,  if  it  is  to 
meet  the  responsibilities  already  resting  upon  it  and 
which  are  increasing  with  every  year,  must  be  an  in- 
digenous church,  not  a  copy  of  another  church  which 
has  grown  up  from  very  different  stock,  under  radically 
different  conditions.  There  is  undoubtedly  something 
very  fascinating  in  the  conception  of  a  church  universal 
not  only  in  life  but  in  form.  Historically  such  a  con- 
ception has  produced  not  a  living  but  a  dead  church ; 
and  the  church  of  China,  of  India,  of  Africa,  of  Japan, 
of  Turkey,  of  South  America,  like  the  church  of  America, 
of  England,  of  Germany,  will  be  strong  and  permanent, 
with  the  instinct  of  life,  just  in  proportion  as  it  is  free  to 
meet  its  own  problems,  in  its  own  way,  under  the 
guidance  of  the  one  Holy  Spirit,  God  in  man,  still  bet- 
ter, God  in  men.  Sister  churches  of  the  West  may 
properly  bring  to  these  the  benefit  of  their  stores  of 
knowledge  and  experience,  but  it  should  be  as  counsellors 
and  helpers,  not  as  dictators. 

Scarcely  less  important  than  the  right  emphasis  on  the 
spiritual  and  the  organized  life,  is  that  on  the  intellectual 
life.  One  of  the  most  noble  of  missionary  educators, 
feeling  the  necessity  of  impressing  upon  the  people  of  the 
land  the  true  idea  of  Christian  education,  that  it  had  re- 
lation not  merely  to  the  training  of  preachers,  but  the 
development  of  the  community,  when  he  established  a 
college  was  so  careful  to  emphasize  the  difference  be- 
tween it  and  a  theological  training  school  that,  all  un- 
consciously to  himself,  it  left  the  impression  on  many  that 
it  was  a  non-Christian  institution.  The  mistake  was  af- 
terwards more  than  rectified,  but  it  illustrates  the  danger 


The  Immediate  Need  377 

which  faces  very  nearly  all  the  missionary  education  in 
non-Christian  lands,  as  well  as  some  nearer  home.  Un- 
questionably one  secret  of  the  long  delay  in  reaping  fruit 
in  China  was  the  fact  that  Christian  education  was  so 
difficult,  in  some  cases  practically  impossible ;  one  ex- 
planation of  the  rapid  growth  in  Korea  is  the  linking  of 
education  in  its  immediately  essential  forms,  with  the  ex- 
tension of  evangelism.  That  evangelical  Christianity  has 
gained  such  power  in  the  Turkish  empire  is  due  to  the 
skilful  coordination  of  education  in  progressive  form, 
with  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  and  the  organization  of 
the  churches.  The  severest  test  is  probably  in  India, 
where  the  pressure  for  general  education  of  high  grade  is 
so  strong  that  there  is  danger  lest  the  spiritual  life  be 
crowded  out.  Is  it  not  an  indication  of  the  actual  pres- 
ence of  the  Spirit  of  God  that  at  this  very  juncture,  the 
Christian  students  of  the  world  have  banded  together  in 
the  effort  to  retain  the  close  connection  between  high 
intellectual  training  and  deep  spiritual  life? 

4..  The  Means  or  Resources  Available. — At  no 
time  in  the  history  of  the  missionary  enterprise  has  there 
been  such  complete  and  superb  equipment  for  the  work. 
Whether  we  look  at  the  enormous  wealth  in  the  hands 
of  Christian  men  and  women ;  the  high  intellectual 
attainments  of  the  great  majority  of  the  members  of 
Christian  churches  ;  the  moral  forces  enlisted  as  never 
before  in  this  work  ;  the  number  of  organizations  adapted 
to  every  style  of  work  and  representing  every  class  of 
workers ;  the  unprecedented  facilities  for  intercommuni- 
cation, by  which  remoter  sections  more  easily  feel  the 
touch  of  stronger  communities  ;  the  scientific  discoveries, 
placing  the  mightiest  and  most  mysterious  powers  of 
nature  at  the  service  of  the  missionary  of  the  Cross ;  the 


378  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

increasing  sense  of  fellowship  resulting  in  the  lessening  of 
racial  prejudices  and  social  hostilities,  and  still  more  of 
religious  and  sectarian  rivalries ; — on  every  hand  it  be- 
comes apparent  that  as  compared  with  a  century  ago 
these  resources  have  multiplied  many  fold,  while  not  a 
decade,  scarcely  a  year  passes  that  does  not  show  some 
advance.  True  this  advance  has  been  by  no  means  uni- 
form, and  there  seem  to  be  times  of  retrogression,  still  a 
broad  survey  reveals  a  change  really  wonderful  in  all 
these  particulars. 

There  are  also  the  resources  on  the  foreign  field,  each 
a  means  available  for  advance :  the  native  churches,  the 
educational  institutions,  the  philanthropic  organizations, 
the  versions  of  the  Bible,  the  great  company  of  workers, 
commissioned  and  non-commissioned ;  the  increasing 
friendliness  of  formerly  hostile  governments  and  even 
hierarchies,  the  weakening  of  superstition,  the  innumer- 
able conditions  which,  many  of  them  small  in  themselves, 
combine  to  make  up  a  mighty  power. 

More  important,  however,  than  all  these  is  the  awak- 
ened, or  awakening  consciousness  of  the  responsibility 
of  the  individual  Christian  for  the  individual  salvation 
of  the  individual  non-Christian,  whoever  and  wherever  he 
may  be ;  whether  a  fellow  townsman,  or  one  of  a  far  dis- 
tant and  unknown  people  ;  whether  an  Asiatic  in  Asia,  or 
landing  as  an  immigrant  on  our  shores.  According  to 
the  degree  in  which  this  is  a  practical  power  will  all 
these  other  resources  be  available.  The  growth  of  this 
asset  in  the  missionary  enterprise  is  one  of  the  most 
wonderful  facts  of  the  past  century.  The  thirteen  Bap- 
tist ministers  who  gathered  in  the  parlour  at  Kettering 
by  no  means  represented  all  who  felt  the  burden  of  souls 
upon  them,  but  they  did  represent  practically  all    who 


The  Immediate  Need  379 

had  found  an  effective  way  of  carrying  that  burden.  To- 
day there  is  in  all  Christendom  scarcely  a  single  body  of 
Christians  that  does  not  recognize  in  some  form  or  other 
their  obligation  for  the  conversion  of  the  world.  The 
mere  list  of  organizations  having  this  as  their  specific 
purpose  would  make  a  volume  by  itself,  and  in  each  one 
of  these  the  central  thought  is  the  personal  responsibility 
of  the  individual  member. 

When  the  Saviour  inaugurated  the  missionary  enter- 
prise, He  told  the  little  company  of  disciples  gathered  on 
the  Mount  of  Ascension,  to  remain  in  Jerusalem  until 
they  should  be  endued  with  power  from  on  high^  by  the 
coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  From  Pentecost  through 
the  succeeding  centuries  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  has 
been  the  determining  factor  in  that  enterprise.  On  no 
other  principle  can  be  explained  the  development  of  the 
Church  ;  and  according  as  this  has  been  recognized,  not 
as  a  mere  theory  or  doctrine,  but  a  practical  working 
force,  has  the  movement  been  constant  and  permanent. 
Wherever  and  whenever  it  has  been  ignored  or  held  as 
subordinate  to  other  resources,  has  there  been  weakness, 
inefficiency  and  lack  of  vitality.  Inasmuch  as  the  Spirit 
works  by  the  use  of  these  other  resources,  it  is  not  always 
easy  to  distinguish  between  them  ;  all  the  greater  therefore 
the  necessity  of  constantly  keeping  in  mind  the  funda- 
mentals. It  is  well  to  estimate  wealth  and  emphasize  its 
value,  but  without  that  other  power  it  is  helpless.  Edu- 
cation and  intellectual  attainments  are  capable  of  most 
noble  uses,  but  only  as  they  are  controlled  by  the  Spirit, 
and  that  Spirit  is  not  confined  in  its  influences  by  human 
logic  or  limited  by  human  distinctions.  Organizations, 
church,  social,  executive,  are  essential  for  orderly  and 
efficient  conduct  of  human  affairs ;  when  they  are  used 


380  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

for  divine  purposes,  they  assume  often  very  different 
features.  Probably  no  one  movement  in  the  Christian 
church  has  equalled  the  Student  Movement  in  power  to 
mould  life  and  affect  the  miss-ionary  enterprise,  and  the 
secret  of  that  has  been  in  its  emphasis  upon  the  "  quiet 
hour."  There  has  been  mighty  inspiration  in  the  great 
gatherings,  in  the  eloquent  addresses,  the  soul-stirring 
singing,  but  the  power  has  come  when  in  the  introduc- 
tory hour  the  ''practice  of  the  presence  of  God,"  has 
been  set  forth  as  the  controlling  thought  through  the 
day.  Many  and  many  a  time  on  the  mission  field,  at 
home  as  well  as  abroad,  there  have  come  times  when 
every  device  of  human  ingenuity,  every  resource  of 
wealth  and  trained  skill,  have  failed,  and  out  of  the 
whirlwind  of  passion,  there  has  spoken  the  still  small 
voice  and  tumult  has  subsided  ;  obstacles  have  yielded, 
and  the  way  which  has  seemed  closed  has  been  opened. 
5.  The  Immediate  Need. — A  well-known  mission- 
ary entered  the  office  of  a  secretary  of  one  of  the  largest 
and  strongest  missionary  societies.  After  some  general 
conversation  the  missionary  turned  to  the  secretary  and 
said,  "  What  is  your  plan  for  the  conversion  of  China?  " 
In  reply  the  secretary  outlined  what  his  society  was 
doing.  His  interrogator  however  was  not  satisfied,  and 
returned  with  added  emphasis  to  his  original  question, 
**  What  is  your  plan  for  the  conversion  of  China?  "  To 
this  the  secretary  responded  that  the  utmost  that  in  his 
judgment  could  be  done,  was  for  each  worker,  each  society, 
to  follow  Nehemiah's  general  instructions  and  '*  build  up 
over  against  his  own  house."  As  they  parted  the  one 
looked  upon  the  other  as  a  "good  man"  but  more  or 
less  of  a  crank  ;  the  other  felt  that  the  one  utterly  failed 
to  comprehend  the  situation  or  apprehend  what  had  been 


The  Immediate  Need  381 

done,  what  remained  to  be  done,  what  methods  had  so 
far  proved  most  successful,  what  means  were  available, 
and  from  these  to  come  to  some  definite  conclusion  as  to 
how  that  which  all  desired  and  all  were  working  for, 
could  most  effectively  and  most  speedily  be  accomplished. 

The  immediate  need  of  the  missionary  enterprise,  so  far 
as  its  human  agencies  are  concerned,  is  some  plan  of 
action  by  which  waste  shall  be  avoided  and  available 
forces  so  coordinated  as  to  produce  the  best  possible  re- 
sults. At  the  time  of  the  Ecumenical  Missionary  Con- 
ference in  New  York,  in  1900,  the  need  of  such  action 
was  urged,  but  -evidently  the  time  had  not  come. 
Everybody  was  too  busy  building  up  over  against  his 
own  house  to  pay  much  attention  to  his  neighbour  except 
to  see  that  there  was  no  trespass  on  his  own  limits. 
Since  then  there  has  been  considerable  advance  in  this 
respect.  The  Laymen's  Movement  is  emphasizing  the 
need  of  such  coordination  in  the  interests  not  so  much  of 
economy  as  of  efficiency.  Denominational  slogans  are, 
on  the  whole,  less  prominent,  and  differing  bodies  of  be- 
lievers are  more  and  more  willing  that  people  should  be 
brought  into  the  kingdom  by  differing  means.  In  new 
fields  there  is  manifest  a  willingness  to  come  to  some 
understanding.  In  old  fields  however  there  is  still  too 
much  concentration  in  some  sections  to  the  neglect  of 
others.  Any  wholesale  reapportionment  is  of  course  im- 
practicable, nor  would  it  be  desirable.  Transplanting 
is  a  difficult  task.  Denominational  tares  will  undoubtedly 
have  to  grow  up  with  ecclesiastical  wheat.  Peradventure 
the  tares  may  after  all  turn  out  to  be  wheat  also. 

When  all  allowances  are  made  for  well-established 
customs,  however  divergent,  it  certainly  should  be  pos- 
sible for  the  different  societies  to  come  to  some  mutual 


382  The  Missionary  Enterprise 

understanding  by  which  over  occupation  shall  be  avoided, 
and  the  surplus  transferred  to  some  needy  section.  Per- 
haps more  important  still  is  some  plan  by  which  the 
native  churches  shall  be  helped  rather  than  hindered  in 
so  uniting  that  they  may  present  a  solid,  instead  of  a 
divided  front  to  the  great  mass  of  superstition  and  deg- 
radation still  to  be  overcome.  If  the  Conference  of  19 10 
shall  accomplish  this,  it  will  do  much  to  secure  the  best 
efficiency  of  the  large  reinforcements  of  workers,  and 
greatly  increased  contributions,  so  urgently  needed,  and 
will  register  a  long  advance  in  the  conduct  of  the  mis- 
sionary enterprise. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

This  is  not  by  any  means  a  complete  list.     The  aim  is  simply  to 
include  the  most  valuable  books,  and  such  as  are  easily  procurable. 

GENERAL 

Oulllae  of  a  History' of  Protestaat  Missions;  From  the  Reforma- 
tion to  the  Present  Time.  Gustav  Warneck.  Maps,  8vo. 
New  Revised  Edition.     Revell.     ^2.80  net. 

Short  History  of  Cliristian  Missions.  George  Smith.  Scribner. 
60  cents  net. 

Two  Tliousand  Years  of  Missions  Before  Carey.  Lemuel  Call 
Barnes.     Christian  Culture  Press.    ^1.50  net. 

History  of  tlie  Cliristian  Ctiurcli.  Geo.  P.  Fisher.  Scribner. 
;g3.5o. 

Apostles  of  Medisval  Europe.  G.  F.  Maclear.  Macmillan. 
Paper,  25  cents  net. 

Encyclopsdia  of  Missions.  Revised  Edition.  Dwight,  Tupper, 
Bliss.     Funk  &  Wagnalls.     ^6.00  net. 

Tlie  Blue  Book  of  Missions.  Henry  O.  Dwight.  Funk  &  Wag- 
nalls.    ^1,00  net. 

Geography  and  Atlas  of  P'-otestant  Missions.  Harlan  P.  Beach. 
Student  Volunteer  Movement.     $4.00  net. 

Ecumenical  Missionary  Conference.  2  vols.  New  York,  1900. 
American  Tract  Society.     1^1.50  net. 

Christian  Missions  and  Social  Progress.  James  S.  Dennis.  Three 
vols,  fully  illustrated,  8vo.  Revell.  Vol.  1,^2.50;  Vol.  II, 
^2.50;  Vol.  Ill,  $2.50  net. 

The  Growth  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Sidney  L.  Gulick.  Dia- 
grams, i2mo.     Revell.     ^1.50. 

Missions  and  Modern  History.  Robert  E.  Speer.  2  vols,  Svo. 
Revell.     1554.00  net. 

3^3 


384  Bibliography 

Foreign  Missions  After  a  Century.  James  S.  Dennis.  8vo. 
Kevell.     ;^i.50. 

A  Study  of  Christian  Missions.     W.  Newton  Clarke.     Scribner. 

Universal  Elements  of  the  Christian  Religion.  Charles  Cuthbert 
Hall.      i2mo.     Revell.     ;^i.25  net. 

The  Evangelization  of  the  World  in  this  Generation.  John  R. 
Molt.     Student  Volunteer  Movement.     $1.00  net. 

Missionary  Principles  and  Practice.  Robert  E.  Speer.  8vo. 
Revell.     $1.^0  net. 

Missions  from  the  Modern  View.  Robert  A.  Hume.  i2mo. 
Revell.     ^51.25  net. 

The  Foreign  Missionary.  Arthur  J.  Brown.  i2mo.  Revell. 
$>i.^o  net. 

The  Missionary  and  His  Critics.  James  L.  Barton.  1 2mo.  Revell. 
^i.oo  net. 

Mohammedan  World  of  To- Day.  Edited  by  James  L.  Barton, 
S.  M.  Zwemer,  E.  M.  Wherry.  Illustrated,  Maps,  8vo. 
Revell.     ^$1.50  net. 

Medical  Missions:  Their  Place  and  Power.  John  Lowe.  i2mo. 
Revell.     ;?i.50. 

Medical  Missions :  Teaching  and  Healing.  Louise  C.  Purington, 
M.  D.      i6mo,  paper.      Revell.      10  cents  net. 

The  Unfinished  Task.  James  L.  Barton.  Student  Volunteer 
Movement.     50  cents  net. 

Christian  Belief  Interpreted  by  Christian  Experience.  Charles 
Cuthbert  Hall.      University  of  Chicago  Press.     SiL^o  net. 

The  New  Horoscope  of  Missions.  Jas.  S.  Dennis.  Revell. 
^i.oo  net. 

The  Spirit  of  the  Orient.  Geo.  W.  Knox.  T.  Y.  Crowell  &  Co. 
51.50  net. 

Missions  and  Politics  in  Asia.  Robert  E.  Speer.  i2mo.  Revell. 
;?i.oo. 

The  Unveiled  East.     F.  A.  McKenzie.     Dutton.     ;^3.50  net. 

The  Truce  in  the  Far  East  and  Its  Aftermath.  B.  L.  Putnam 
Weale.     Macmillan  Co.     J&3.50  net. 

Eastern  Missions  from  a  Soldier's  Standpoint.  Col.  G.  H.  Scott 
Moncrieff.     Religious  Tract  Society.     London.     $i.oo. 


Bibliography  385 

The  Romance  of  Missionary  Heroism.    John  C.  Lambert.     Lippin- 
cott  Co.     ^1.50  net. 

Heroes    of    Missionary    Enterprise.     Claud    Field.     Lippincott. 
$1.50  net. 

Old  Time  Student  Volunteers.     H.  Clay  Trumbull.     Revell.     ^^i.oo 
net. 

Pioneer  Missionaries  of  the  Church.     Chas.  C.  Creegan.     American 
Tract  Society.     ^1.25. 

Child   Life   in   Many   Lands.      H.    Clay   Trumbull.      Illustrated, 
I2mo.     Revell.     $i.QO  net. 

RELIGIONS 

Handbook  of  Comparative   Religion.    S.   H.     Kellogg.     Student 
Volunteer  Movement.     75  cents  net ;  paper,  30  cents  net. 

Religious    Systems    of    the    World.     Sketches    by   fifty   writers. 
Button.     ;g2.oo  net. 

Religions  of  Mission  Fields ;  as  Viewed  by  Protestant  Missionaries. 

Student  Volunteer  Movement.     50  cents  net. 

History  of  Religion.     Allan  Menzies.     Scribner.     $1.50  net. 

Buddhism:    Its    History  and   Literature.    T.   W.  Rhys   Davids. 
Putnam.     J^i.50. 

Buddhism  in  Its  Connection  With  Brahmanism  and  Hinduism.    Sir 

M.  Monier-Williams.     Macmillan.     ,^4.50. 

Buddhist  India.     T.  W.  Rhys  Davids.     Putnam.     $1.50. 

The  Religions  of  India.     Edward  Washburn  Hopkins.    Ginn  &  Co. 
^2.40  net. 

The    Great    Religions    of    India.     J.    Murray    Mitchell.     Revell. 
^1.50  net. 

Sacred   Books  of  the   East:   Described  and   Examined.    3  vols. 
Christian  Literature  Society  for  India. 

Moslem   Doctrine  of  God.     S.  M.  Zwemer.     American  Tract  So- 
ciety.    50  cents. 

Islam  and  the  Oriental  Churches.    W.  A.  Shedd.     Presbyterian 
Board  of  Publication.     $1.25  net. 

Mohammed  and  the  Rise  of  Islam.    D.  S.  Margoliouth.     Putnam. 
31.35  net. 

Islam  and  Christianity  in  India.    E.  M.  Wherry.     Revell.    ;gi.25 
net. 


386  Bibliography 

The  Koran.     George  Sale.     Warne.     ;P2.oo. 

The  Religion  of  the  Crescent.  W.  St.  Clair  Tisdall.  E.  S.  Gorham. 
,151.25. 

Life  and  Teachings  of  Abbas  Effendi ;  (Babism).  Myron  H. 
Phelps.     Putnam.     ^1.40  net. 

The  Religions  of  China.     James  Legge.     Scribner,     ;Si.50. 

The  Sacred  Books  of  China.  James  Legge.  6  vols.  Clarendon 
Press.  4  vols.  Text  of  Confucianism.  ^12.50861.  2  vols. 
Text  of  Taoism.     ^85. 25  set. 

Confucianism  and  Taoism.     Robert  K.  Douglas.     E.  S.  Gorham. 

65  cents  net. 

China  and  Religion.  Edward  Harper  Parker.  Button.  $;i.$o 
net. 

The  Religions  of  Japan.     William  Elliot  Griflis.    Scribner.    32.00. 

Prince  SIddartha:  the  Japanese  Buddha.  John  L.  Atkinson. 
Congregational  Publishing  Society.     ;$i.25. 

The  Development  of  Religion  in  Japan.  Geo.  W.  Knox.  Putnam. 
^1.50  net. 

Fetichism  in  West  Africa.     R.  H.  Nassau.     Scribner.     I2.50  net. 

Islam :  A  Challenge  to  Faith.  Samuel  M,  Zwemer.  Student  Vol- 
unteer Movement,     ^l-OO  net. 

Islam  and  Christianity ;  The  Irrepressible  Conflict.  E.  M. 
Wherry.     Re  veil.     $1.2^  net. 


AFRICA 

The  Redemption  of  Africa.     Frederic  Perry  Noble.     Illustrations, 
Maps  and  Tables.     2  vols.    8vo.     Revell.     34-0O. 

Dawn  in  the  Dark  Continent ;  Or  Africa  and  its  Missions.     James 
Stewart.     Colored  Maps,  8vo.     Revell.     $2.00  net. 

Tropical  Africa.     Henry  Drummond.     Scribner.     3i.oo. 

A  History  of  the  Colonization  of  Africa  by  Alien  Races.     Harry  A. 
Johnston.     University  Press.     ;j;i.50. 

The    Congo    and    Coasts    of    Africa.     Richard    Harding   Davis. 

Scribner.     ^1.50  net. 

Pioneering  on  the  Congo.     W.  Holman  Bentley,     Revell.     2  vols. 
J?5.oo   net. 


Bibliography  387 

Daybreak  la  Llviagstonia.  James  W.  Jack.  Illustrated,  i2mo. 
Reveli.     ^1.50  net. 

The  Personal  Life  of  David  Livlas;stone.  W.  Garden  Blaikie. 
Portrait  and  maps,  8vo,     Reveli.     ;^i.50. 

A  Life  for  Africa.  Ellen  C.  Parsons.  Illustrated,  i2mo.  Reveli. 
^1.25. 

On  the  Threshold  of  Central  Africa.  Francois  Coillard.  American 
Tract  Society.     ^2.50. 

Coillard  of  the  Zambesi.  C.  W.  Mackintosh.  American  Tract  So- 
ciety.    ^2.50  net. 

John  Mackenzie.     W.  Douglas  Mackenzie.     Armstrong.     32.00. 

Pilklngton  of  Uganda.  C.  F.  Harford-Battersby.  Illustrated,  8vo. 
Reveli.     31.50. 

On  the  Borders  of  Pigmy  Land.  Ruth  B.  Fisher.  Illustrated, 
lamo.     Reveli.     31.25  net. 

The  Egyptian  Sudan.  John  Kelly  Giffen.  Illustrated,  i2mo. 
Reveli.     31.00  net. 

Thirty    Years    In    Madagascar.     T.   T.   Matthews.      Armstrong. 

31.75- 

Daybreak  in  the  Dark  Continent.  Wilson  S.  Naylor.  Young  Peo- 
ple's Missionary  Movement.     50  cents  net. 

THE  LEVANT 

Constantinople  and  Its  Problems.  Henry  Otis  Dwight.  Illustrated, 
i2mo.     Reveli.     31.25  net. 

Persian  Life  and  Customs.  Samuel  G.  Wilson.  Illustrated. 
Map,  8vo.     Reveli.     31.25. 

Arabia:  The  Cradle  of  Islam.  Samuel  M.  Zwemer.  Illustrated. 
Maps.     Reveli.     32.00. 

Our  Moslem  Sisters ;  A  Symposium.  Edited  by  S.  M.  Zwemer, 
Annie  Van  Sommer.     Illustrated,  i2mo.     Reveli.   31.25  net. 

Raymond  Lull.  Samuel  Zwemer.  Funk  &  Wagnalls.  75  cents 
net,  postpaid. 

The  Turk  and  his  Lost  Provinces ;  Sketches  and  Studies  of  life  and 
travel  in  the  land  of  the  Sultan.  William  Eleroy  Curtis. 
Illustrated,  8vo.     Reveli.     32.00  net. 

To"Day  In  Syria  and  Palestine.  William  Eleroy  Curtis.  Illustrated, 
8vo.     Reveli.     32.00  net. 


388  Bibliography 

The  Nearer  and  Farther  East ;  or,  Outline  Studies  of  Moslem 
Lands  and  of  Siaui,  Burma  and  Korea,  Samuel  M.  Zvvemer, 
Arthur  J.  Brown.  Macmillan.  Cloth,  50  cents  net ;  paper, 
30  cents  net. 

The  Valley  of  the  Nile.  Charles  R.  Watson.  A  Record  of 
Missionary  Enterprise  in  Egypt.  Princeton  Addresses.  i2mo, 
cloth.     ;>i.oo  net. 


INDIA 

The  Progress  of  the  Kingdom  in  India.  Jacob  Chamberlain. 
With  Biographical  Sketch  by  Henry  N.  Cobb.  i2mo, 
cloth.     ^1.50  net. 

The  Indian  Empire ;  Its  Peoples,  History,  and  Products.  Sir  Will- 
iam Wilson  Hunter.  Smith,  Elder  &  Co.  London.  ^11.20 
net. 

India  and  Christian  Opportunity.  Harlan  P.  Beach.  Student 
Volunteer  Movement.     50  cents  net. 

India's  Problem,  Krishna  or  Christ.  John  P.  Jones.  Illustrated, 
8vo.     Revell.     ^1.50  net. 

The  Great  Religions  of  India.  J.  Murray  Mitchell.  i2mo.  Revell. 
^1.50  net. 

Hinduism,  Past  and  Present.  J.  Murray  Mitchell.  i2mo.  Revell. 
31.60, 

Islam  and  Christianity  in  India.  E.  M.  Wherry.  8vo.  Revell. 
31.25  net. 

Pandita   Ramabai.     Helen  S.  Dyer.     Illustrated,   i2mo.     Revell. 

31.25. 

The  High  Caste  Hindu  Woman.  Pandita  Ramabai.  i2mo.  Revell. 
75  cents  net. 

Wrongs  of  Indian  Womanhood.  Mrs.  Marcus  B.  Fuller.  Illustrated, 
i2mo.     Revell.     31-25. 

Men  of  Might  in  Indian  Missions.  Helen  H.  Holcomb.  Illustrated, 
l2mo.      Revell.     3l-25  net. 

Mary  Reed  :  Missionary  to  the  Lepers.  John  Jackson.  Illustrated, 
i2nio,     Revell.     75  cents. 

Among  India's  Students.  Robert  P.  Wilder.  i8mo.  Revell. 
30  cents. 

The  Cross  in  the  Land  of  the  Trident.  Harlan  P.  Beach.  i2mo. 
Revell.     Cloth,  50  cents ;  paper,  25  cents  net. 


Bibliography  389 

la    the   Tiger    Juagle.     Jacob    Chamberlain.     Illustrated,    i2mo. 

Revell.     ;^i.oo. 

In    the   Cobra's    Den.      Jacob   Chamberlain.      Illustrated,    i2mo. 
Revell.     ^i.oo. 

Village    Worlc    in    India.     Norman    Russell.     Illustrated,    i2mo. 
Revell.     i^i.oo  net. 

Laos    Folic   Lore  of  Farther  India.     Katherine  Neville  Fleeson. 
Illustrated,  i6mo.     Revell.     75  cents. 

Things  as  They  Are.     Amy  Wilson  Carmichael.     Illustrated,  i2mo. 
Revell.     ^i.oo  net. 

Overweights    of    Joy.     Amy    Carmichael.     Revell.     JJi.oo    net. 

Morgan,  Scott  &  Co.     London. 

The   Little   Qreen   Qod.     Mrs.   Caroline   Atwater   Mason.     Long. 
i6mo.     Revell,     75  cents. 

Henry    Martyn ;     First    Modern    Missionary    to    Mohammedans. 
George  Smith.     Illustrated.     Revell.     J?  1.50  net. 

Robert  Clark  of  the  Panjab ;  Pioneer  and  Missionary  Statesman. 
Henry  Martyn  Clark.     8vo.     Revell.     ^1.75  net. 

A  Woman's  Life  for  Kashmir;  Irene  Petrie.     Mrs.  Ashley  Carus- 
Wilson.     Illustrated.     Maps,  8vo.     Revell.     ^1.50. 

Among  the  Burmans.     Henry  Park  Cochrane.     Illustrated,  i2mo. 
Revell.     i^i.25  net. 

Soo   Thah.     Alonzo  Bunker.     Illustrated,  i2mo.     Revell.     ^i.oo 

net. 

The  Laos  of  North  Siam.     Lillian  Johnson  Curtis.     Westminster 

Press.     151.25  "6^- 

The  Nearer  and  Farther  East.     S.  M.  Zwemer,  Arthur  J.  Brown. 
Macmillan.     Cloth,  50  cents  net ;  paper,  30  cents  net. 


CHINA 

The    Middle    Kingdom.     S.   Wells   Williams.     Scribner.     2  vols. 
39.00. 

The  Awakening  of  China.     W.  A.  P.  Martin.     Doubleday,  Page  & 
Co.     33.80  net. 

America  and  China.     Arthur  H.  Smith.     i2mo.     RevelL     3i.2S 
net. 

China:   Her  History,  Diplomacy  and  Commerce.    E.  H.  Parker. 
Button.     32.50  net. 


390  Bibliography 

The  Lore  of  Cathay.     W.  A.  P.  Martin.     Revell.     $2.50  net. 

A  Cycle  of  Cathay ;  China,  North  and  South.  W.  A.  P.  Martin. 
Illustrated.     Revell.     ,l&2.oo. 

New  Forces  in  Old  Chiaa.  Arthur  J.  Brown.  Illustrated,  i2mo. 
Revell.     ^1.50  net. 

The  Educational  Conquest  of  the  Far  East.  Robert  E.  Lewis. 
Illustrated,  i2mo.     Revell.     jgi.oo  net. 

China  in  Coavulsioa ;  Origin,  Outbreak,  Climax,  Aftermath. 
Arthur  H.  Smith.  Illustrated.  Maps,  charts,  2  vols,  8vo. 
Revell.     ;^5.oo  net. 

Chiaese  Characteristics.  Arthur  H.  Smith.  Illustrated,  8vo. 
Revell.     j^2.oo. 

Village  Life  in  China.  Arthur  H.  Smith.  Illustrated,  8vo. 
Revell.     32,00. 

The  Origin  and  Growth  of  Village  Communities  In  India.    B.  H. 

Baden-Powell.     Scribner.     ^i.oo. 

Things  Chinese.    J.  Dyer  Ball.     Scribner.     ^4.00  net. 

Demon  Possession  and  Allied  Themes.  John  L.  Nevius.  Index, 
Appendices,  etc.     i2mo.     Revell.     ^'-SO. 

A  Century  of  Protestant  Missions  in  China.  Edited  by  D.  Mac- 
Gillivray.  American  Presbyterian  Press.  Shanghai,  China. 
^3.00. 

Breaking  Down  Chinese  Walls.     Elliott  I.  Osgood.    Revell.    51.00 

net. 

Conversion  by  the  Millioa  la  China.  Timothy  Richards.  Chris- 
tian Literature  Society.     China.     2  vols.     ;p5.oo. 

Mission  Problems  and  Mission  Methods  in  South  China.  J.  Camp- 
bell Gibson.     Illustrated,  i2mo.     Revell.     31.50  net. 

The  Conquest  of  the  Cross  in  China.  Jacob  Speicher.  Chart  and 
Illustrations.     Revell.     51.50  net. 

China's  Only  Hope.  Viceroy  Chang  Chih  Tung.  Illustrated. 
Revell.     75  cents. 

The  Life  of  John  Kenneth  Mackenzie,  M.D.  Mrs.  Mary  I.  Bryson. 
Illustrated,  i2mo.     Revell.     51.50. 

Life    of   John    Livingston    Nevius.      Mrs.    Helen   S.    C.   Nevius. 

Illustrated,  i2mo.     Revell,     52,00. 

Griffith  John.  William  Robson.  Illustrated,  i2mo.  Revell. 
75  cents. 


Bibliography  391 

Pastor    Hsi ;  One  of  China's   Christians.     Mrs.  Howard  Taylor. 
Illustrated,  i2mo.     Revell.     ^i.oo  net;  paper,  65  cents  net. 

Cbiaa's    Book   of   Martyrs.     Luella   Miner.     Westminster  Press. 
;gi.50  net. 

East  of  the  Barrier ;     Manchuria  in  Miniature.     J.  Miller  Graham. 
Illustrated.     Revell.     ^i.oo  net. 

James  Qilmour  of  Mongolia. ,  Richard  Lovett.     Illustrated,  8vo. 
Revell.     ii.ys- 

Mission  Metliods  in  Manctiuria.     John  Ross.     Illustrated,  1 2mo. 
Revell.     ^i.oo  net. 

From  Far  Formosa.     George  Leslie  Mackay.     Illustrated.     Maps, 
8vo.     Revell.     ^1.25. 

Tlie  Island  of  Formosa :  Past  and  Present.    James  W.  Davidson. 
Macmillan.     1^8.50  net. 

Dawn  on  the  Hills  of  T'ang.     Harlan  P.  Beach.     Student  Volun- 
teer Movement.     50  cents  net. 

The  Opening  of  Tibet.    Perceval  Landon.     Doubleday,  Page  &  Co. 
if3.ik)  net. 

Adventures  in  Tibet.    William  Carey.     United  Society  of  Chris- 
tian Endeavour.     ^1.50  net. 

Among  the  Tibetans.     Isabella  Bird  Bishop.     Illustrated.     Revell. 
31.00. 

With  the  Tibetans  in  Tent  and  Temple.     Susie  C.  Rijnhart.     Illus- 
trated, i2mo.     Revell.     I51.50. 

KOREA 

Corea,   the    Hermit    Nation.     William    Elliot    Griffis.     Scribner. 
32.50. 

With   Marquis   Ito   in   Korea.     Geo.  Trumbull  Ladd.     Scribner. 
32.00  net. 

The  Passing  of  Korea.     Homer  C.  Hulbert.     Doubleday,  Page  & 
Co.     33.80  net. 

The  Call  of  Korea.     H.  G.  Underwood.     Revell.     75  cents  net. 

Korea  and  Her  Neighbours.     Isabella  L.  Bishop.     Illustrated,  8vo. 
Revell.     32.00. 

Korean   Sketches.    James   S.  Gale.     Illustrated,   i2mo.     Revell. 
31.00. 

The  Vanguard;  A  Tale  of  Korea.    James  S.  Gale.     Illustrated, 
l2mo.     Revell.     31.50. 


392  Bibliography 

Fifteen  Years  Among  the  Topknots.     L.  II.  Underwood.     Ameri- 
can Tract  Society.     31.50. 

The  Near  and  the  Far  East.     S.  M.  Zwemer,  Arthur  J.  Brown. 
MacmiUan.     Cloth,  50  cents  net ;  paper,  30  cents  net. 

JAPAN 

The  A\ikado*s  Empire.     William  Elliot  Griffis.     Harpers.     2  vols. 
j$4.oo. 

A  Handbook  of  Modern  Japan.     Ernest  W.  Clement.     McClurg. 
^1.40  net. 

The  Development  of  Religion  In  Japan.     George  William  Knox, 
Putnam.     J^i.50  net. 

Evolution  of  the  Japanese  :  Social  and  Psychic.    Sidney  L.  Gulick. 
Kevell.     32.00  net. 

The   White   Peril   in   the   Far   East.     Sidney   L.  Gulick.     i2mo. 
Kevell.     ^i.oo  net. 

Japan  To- Day.     James  A.  B.  Sherer.     Lippincott.     31.50  net. 

The  Future  of  Japan.     W.  Petrie  Watson.     Button.     33.50  net. 

Things  Japanese.     Basil  Hall  Chamberlain.     Scribner.     34.00  net. 

Young  Japan.     James  A.  B.  Sherer.     Lippincott.     31.50  net. 

The   Gist   of   Japan.      R.    B.    Peery.      Illustrated,   8vo.     Kevell. 
31.25. 

Japanese  Girls  and  Women.     Alice  M.  Bacon.     Houghton,  Mifflin 
&  Co.     31.25. 

A  Maker  of  the  New  Orient ;  Samuel  Robbins  Brown.     William 
Elliot  Griffis.     Illustrated,  l2mo.     Kevell.     31.25  net. 

Verbeck  of  Japan.     W.  E.  Griffis.     Kevell.     31.50. 

Life   and   Letters  of  Joseph  Hardy  Neesima.    Arthur  S.  Hardy. 
Houghton,  Mifilin  &  Co.     32.00. 

Joseph  Hardy  Neesima.     J.  D.  Davis.     Illustrated,  i2mo.     Kevell. 
31.00. 

The  Ainu  of  Japan.    John  Batchelor.     Illustrated,  i2mo.     KevelL 

31.50- 
Sunrise   in  the   Sunrise   Kingdom.     John  H.  DeForest.     Young 

People's  Missionary  Movement.     50  cents  net ;  paper,  35  cents 

net. 

Japan    and    Its    Regeneration.     Otis    Cary.     Student    Volunteer 
Movement.     50  cents  net. 


Bibliography  393 

THE  PACIFIC 

The  Islands  of  the  Pacific.  James  M.  Alexander.  American 
Tract  Society.     ^2.00. 

The  Mastery  of  the  Pacific.     Archibald  R.  Colquhoun.     Macmillan. 

;S3.oo  net. 
Oceanic  Languages.     P.  MacDonald.     Oxford  Press.     New  York. 

;^4.20  net. 

The  Pacific  Islanders :  from  Savages  to  Saints.  Edited  by 
Delavan  L.  Pierson.     Funk  &  Wagnalls.     j^i.oo  net. 

Making  of  Hawaii :  Study  in  Evolution.  W.  F.  Blackman.  Mac- 
millan.    New  Edition.     #2,50  net. 

The  Transformation  of  Hawaii.  Belle  M.  Brain.  Illustrated, 
i2mo.     Revell.     ^i.oo. 

At  Home  in  Fiji.     C.  F.  Gordon-Cumming.     Armstrong.  ,";?i.25. 

Among  the  Cannibals  of  New  Guinea.  S.  M.  McFarlane.  Presby- 
terian Board  of  Publication. 

James  Chalmers:  Autobiography  and  Letters.  Richard  Lovett, 
Editor.     Illustrated.     Maps,  8vo.     Revell.     ^^1.50  net. 

"  Tamate,"  The  Life  Story  of  James  Chalmers.  Richard  Lovett. 
Illustrated,  i2mo.     Revell.     y^i.25  net. 

John  Q.  Paton's  Autobiography.  James  Paton,  Editor.  New  com- 
plete edition.     Illustrated,  i2mo.     Revell.     ^1.50. 

The  Martyr  Isle  of  Erromanga.  H.  A.  Robertson.  Armstrong. 
^1.50. 

Micronesia:  Fifty  Years  in  the  Island  World.  Theodora  Crosby 
Bliss.  American  Board.  Boston.  Cloth,  50  cents;  paper, 
30  cents. 

The  Caroline  Islands.     F.  W.  Christian.     Scribner.     ;P4,oo. 

The  New  Era  in  the  Philippines.  Arthur  J.  Brown.  Illustrated, 
8vo.     Revell.     ^.1.25  net. 

The  Philippines  and  the  Far  East.  Homer  C.  Stuntz.  Jennings 
&  Pye.     ^1.75  net. 

The  Philippine  Islands.     John  Foreman.     Scribner.     ^6.00  net. 

AMERICA 
Latin  America.     Hubert  W.  Brown.     Revell.     ^1.20  net. 

Mexico  of  the  Twentieth  Century.  Percy  F.  Martin.  Dodd,  Mead 
&  Co.     2  vols.     1^8.50  net. 


394  Bibliography 

Mexico  and  Her  People  To-day.     Nevin  O.  Winter.     L.  C.  Page  & 
Co.    ;53.c>o. 

A   New  Era  in   Old   Mexico.      G   B.  Winton.      Publishing  House 
M.  E.  Church  South,     Nashville,     ^i.oo. 

The    Coatiaent   of    Opportunity ;    (South   America).     Francis   E. 
Clark.     Revell.     ^1.50  net. 

Religious  Liberty  in  South  America.     John  Lee.     Eaton  &  Mains. 
Jennings  &  Graham.     ^1.25  neL 

Central  and  South  America.     Vol.  I.     A.  H.  Keane.     Lippincott. 
^^5.50  net. 

The  Bible  in  Brazil.     H.  C.  Tucker.     ReveU.    ^1.25  net. 


INDEX 


Abeel,  David,  appeal  on  behalf 
of  heathen  women,  88 ;  visit  to 
Bangkok,  264  ;  to  China,  279 

Abyssinia,  first  mission,  205 ; 
opening  of,  370 

Administration  of  the  Society, 
114;  cost  of,  121 

Africa,  199-219 ;  first  missions 
in,  36,  39 ;  attention  turned 
to,  72;  geographical  discover- 
ies, 200;  partition  of,  201  ; 
missionary  problem,  203 ; 
Islam  in,  205 ;  methods  of 
work,  206;  early  missions, 
207  ;  modern  missions,  209 

Agncw,  Eliza,  128 

Aid  Societies,  86 

Alaska,  missions  in,  35a 

Aldersey,  Miss,  128 

Alexandria,  school  at,  18 

Allen,  Dr.  H.  N.,  in  Korea,  317 

America,  first  missions  in,  40 ; 
missionary  awakening  in,  75  ; 
missionary  societies  in,  81  ; 
Portuguese  colonies  in,  350 ; 
Roman  Catholic  Missions,  350; 
Spanish  occupation  of,  350 

American  Bible  Society  organ- 
ized, 86 

American  embassy  to  Korea,  316 

American  Government,  influence 
of  in  Turkey,  232 

American  Missions  in  Africa,  210 ; 
Western  Asia,  221  ;  India, 
249;  Burma,  261  ;  Siam,  264; 
Malaysia,  270;  China,  279; 
Japan,  298;  Korea,  317;  Pa- 
cific Islands,  342  ;  South  Amer- 
ica, 356 ;  Mexico,  360;  Europe, 
362 


American  teachers  in  Japan,  302 

American  Tract  Society,  86 

Anderson,  Rufus,  on  education, 
170 

Anglo-Chinese  College,  The,  270, 
279 

Annam  reached  from  Laos,  268 

Ansgar,  Apostle  to  the  Danes,  29 

Anti-Opium  League,  Malay,  271 

Aoyama  Gakuin,  Methodist  Col- 
lege, in  Japan,  310 

Apostelstrasse,  The,  202 

Apostolic  Church,  13 

Arabia,  220;  political  situation 
in,  228 ;  missions  in,  236 

Arabic  version,  The,  233 

Arakan,  261 

Armenian  Evangelical  Church, 
193 ;  Bible,  ancient  version, 
221;  modern  version,  233; 
massacres,  231 

Armenians,  interest  of  Henry 
Martyn  in,  221 

Arminius,  68 

"  Arrow  War  "  in  China,  281 

Ashmore,  William,  147 

Assam,  261,  263 

Athens,  missions  in,  222 

Augustine  and  the  Angles,  27 

Australasia,  missionary  societies 
in,  85 

Austria,  missions  in,  362 

Bangkok,  missions  in,  264 

Baptist  Young  People's  Union, 
104 

Barrows,  J.  H.,  Haskell  Lec- 
tures, 157,  256 

Bataks  of  Sumatra,  272 

Beirut,  mission  in,  222 


395 


39^ 


Index 


Berlin  Conference,  201 
lUble  classes,  167 
Libia  distribution,  166 
Eible  House,  Constantinople,  231 
Lible  Societies,  86 ;   British  and 
Foreign,  74  ;    American,  234  ; 
in  Central  and  South  America, 
360 
Bible      translations,      68,      164; 
Africa,    207 ;     Western    Asia, 
233;  India,  254;  China,  290 ; 
Pacific  Islands,  345 
Bible  translators,  165 
Bible  versions,  early,  17 
Bingham,  Hiram,  342 
Bingham,  Hiram  2d,  345 
Bliss,    Daniel,  founds   college   at 

Beirut,  233 
Boardman,  George  D,,  261 
Bohemia  and  Moravia,  mission  of 
Cyril  in,  30 ;  modern  missions, 
362 
Boniface,     missionary     to      Ger- 
many, 27 
Borneo,  British,  272 
Boxer  Uprising,  The,  285 
Bradley,  Daniel  B.,  Siam,  265 
Brainerd,  David,  64,  354 
Bridgman,  E.  C,  China,  279 
Brown,  S.  R.,  Japan,  299,  301 
Buddhism    in   India,  245;  Siam, 
259  ;  Japan,  296  ;  Korea,  315 
Bulgaria,     conversion     of,      29 ; 
modern  missions  in,  225,  233  ; 
the    Church,    223 ;    the    mas- 
sacres, 231  ;  Bible  version,  233 
Burma,  missions  in,  261 
Burns,  \V.  C,  in  China,  282 

Calvin,  influence  of,  67,  69 
Canada,  missionary    societies  in, 

81 
Canton,  Morrison  at,  277 
Capeto-Cairo  Railway,  201,  237 
Carey,  William,  64,  69  ;  at  Cal- 
cutta, 240  ;  language  study  of, 
248  ;  letter  to  Judson,  249  ;  on 
laying  foundations,  249 


Caroline  Islands,  The,  345 

Caste,  power  of,  in  India,  245  ; 
absence  of,  in  Siam,  260;  ab- 
sence of,  in  Ciiina,  278 

Caswell,  Jesse,  Siam,  205 

Celebes,  missions  in,  272 

Central  Africa,  problem  of,  204; 
missions  in,  215 

Centralization  of  Roman  Catholic 
Missions,  45 

Chaldeans  in  Syria,  223 

Chalmers,  James,  340 

Chamberlain,  Jacob,  147 

Child-training, '  Roman    Catholic, 

47 
Children  interested  in  missionary 

ships,  94 

China,  275-294 ;  Nestorians  in, 
31;  religions  of,  277;  Amer- 
ican Missions  in,  279  ;  Opium 
War,  280;  opening  of  treaty 
ports,  280 ;  Edict  of  Toler- 
ation, 281;  "Arrow  War," 
281  ;  foreign  aggressions  in, 
284  ;  Boxer  Uprising,  285 ; 
medical  missions  in,  287  ;  mis- 
sion methods,  287  ;  education 
in,  289 ;  literature  for,  290 ; 
native  church  in,  290 

China   Inland   Mission,  282,  288, 

375 
China-Japan  War,  285,  310,  319 

Chinese  characteristics,  291 
Chinese  Church,  platform  for,  292 
Chinese  massacres,  political,  286 
Chinese  students  in  Japan,  2S9 
Christian      and     Missionary    Al- 
liance, 82,  375 
Christian  Endeavour  Society,  104 
Christian  lands,  foreign  missions 
in,  349-368;  Western  Hemis- 
phere,     349;    Europe,      362; 
Protestant  countries,  363 
Christian  literature,  176;  Western 
Asia,  234  ;  India,  254  ;  China, 
290  ;  Japan,  302 
Christians,    number   of,    in   third 
century,  20 


Index 


397 


Church  buildings,  189 

Church  of  England  and  missions, 

72 
Church   fathers   missionary  lead- 
ers, 15 
Citizen,  the  native  Christian,  177 
Coan,  Titus,  Hawaii,  343 
Coillard,  Fran(;ois,  South  Africa, 

Coke,  Thomas,  founder  of  Meth- 
odist missions,  74 
Coligny  expedition  to  Brazil,  53 
Collateral  and  Aid  Societies,  86 
Colleges  on  mission   fields,   171  ; 
in  Western  Asia,  234  ;  India, 
250  ;  Burma,  262  ;  China,  289; 
Japan,  303,  310 
Colonial  extension,  Protestant,  53 
Columba,  of  lona,  26 
Comity,  138 

Concert  of  prayer  in  1744,  64 
Conditions  of  life  on  mission  field, 

132 
Conditions  of  success,  374 ;  spir- 
itual  life    of   individual,    374; 
education,     375 ;     church     or- 
ganization, 375 
Conference  on  missions  to  Mos- 
lems, 237 
Conferences  of  societies,  117,  119 
Confucianism,  12;  in  China,  276, 

278  ;  in  Korea,  315 
Congo  King  baptized,  36 
Conquering  Church,  Tlie,  19 
Consolidation  of  the  early  Church, 

16 
Constantine,  conversion  of,  21 
Constantinople,  mission  to,  222 
Cooke,  Miss  M.  A.,  first  woman 

missionary,  88,  94 
Cooperation     of    societies,    119; 

urgent  need  of,  381 
Coordination  of  forces,  need  of, 

381 
Coptic  Church,  The,  223 
Corvino,  John  de  Monte,  China,  31 
Cyril    and    Methodius,    mission- 
aries to  Slavs,  29 


Danes,  conversion  of,  29 
Danish  Tamil  Mission,  58,  240 
Demon    worship,    Burma,    263 ; 

Siam,  267  ;   Korea,  315 
Denmark,     missionary     societies 

in,  83 
Denominational     societies,     112, 

"3  . 

Denominational]  sm   on  the  field, 

116,  137,  182 
Denominations,   development   of, 

67,  80-82 
Deputations  to  mission  fields,  106 
Development  of  Modern  Mission- 
ary Movement.     (See   Modern 
Missionary  Movement) 
Disciples  all  missionaries,  13 
Doctrinal  development  of  native 

church,  192 
Doremus,  Mrs.  T.  C,  89    " 
Doshisha,  The,  303,  309 
Druse  massacres  in  Syria,  225 
Dufif,  Alexander,  80,  118,  240 
Duff,  The,  first  voyage  of,  7 1,  329 
Dutch     colonies     and     missions, 

East  Indies,  271 
Dutch  in  East  Indies,  The,  54 
Dutch  Guiana,  Von  Welz  in,  57 
Dutch    missions.    New    Guinea, 

339 
Dwight,  H.  G.  O.,  and  Eli  Smith, 
travels  of,  222 

Early  Protestant  missions,  51- 
65  ;  character  of,  109 

East  Africa,  problem  of,  204; 
missions  in,  213 

East  India  Company,  55  ;  hostil- 
ity to  missions,  241  ;  new  char- 
ter of,  244 

East  Indies,  Dutch  colonial  mis- 
sions in,  54 

Eastern  Church,  The,  not  a  mis- 
sionary church,  22 ;  Roman 
Catholic  propaganda  in,  42 ; 
divisions  of,  222,  364 ;  char- 
acteristics of,  223 ;  hostility  of 
ecclesiastics,  226  j  civil  organi- 


398 


Index 


zation    of,    226 ;    influence    of 
missions,  232 

Eastern  Churches,  missions  to,  364 

Eastern  Question,  The,  229 

Ecumenical  Conference,  New 
York,  1900,  118,  380 

Educated  classes,  India,  reaching 
the,  256 

Educated  missionaries,  125 

Education,  163-177  ;  Bible 
translation,  164;  free  distribu- 
tion, 166;  need  and  methods, 
167;  the  school,  168;  higher 
education,  169 ;  development, 
171  ;  training  native  leaders, 
172;  station  schools,  173;  in- 
dustrial training,  174;  higher, 
169  ;  Roman  Catholic,  49 

Educational  literature,  176;  in 
Africa,  206;  Western  Asia, 
233;  India,  247,  250 ;  Burma, 
262;  Malaysia,  270;  China, 
289  ;  Japan,  302  ;  Korea,  322  ; 
Hawaii,  343 ;  Roman  Catho- 
lic countries,  361 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  64,  354 

Egede,  Hans,  61,  352 

Egypt,  missions  in,  221,  225,  236 

El  Azhar,  University  of,  236,  237 

Eliot,  John,  353 

England,  colonies  of,  55 ;  mis- 
sionary societies  in,  70-74; 
missions  in  Africa,  209,  211, 
213,  215  ;  Western  Asia,  224; 
India,  240;  Malaysia,  270; 
China,  276,  282 ;  Pacific 
Islands,  329-340;  South 
America,  356 

Epworth  League,  The,  104 

Era  of  Christian  Missions,  begin- 
ning of,  1 1 

Erromanga,  335 

Eskimos  baptized  by  Egede,  61  ; 
missions  to,  352 

Ethiopianism  in  South  Africa,  21 1 

Europeans,  influence  of  in  China, 
2S4  ;  in  Pacific  Islands,  327  ; 
in  South  America,  351 


Evangelism,  143-162;  science  of 
missions,  143;  motive  of,  144; 
object  of,  146  ;  true  vision  of, 
147;  forcing  results,  148; 
reaching  the  people,  149  ;  giv- 
ing the  message,  150 ;  funda- 
mentals, 152;  preparation, 
154;  Haskell  Lectures,  157; 
controversy,  159;  reaching 
women,  160;  Gospel  aids,  161  ; 
Africa,  206 ;  Western  Asia, 
233;  India,  252;  Burma,  263; 
China,  288;  Korea,  321  ;  Pa- 
cific Islands,  333 

Evangelistic  movement  in  eight- 
eenth century,  59 

"  Evangelization  of  the  World  in 
this  Generation,"  97 

Examinations  in  China,  278 

Extension  in  early  centuries,  14, 18 

Fairbairn,  Principal,  Haskell 
Lectures,  157,  256 

Faith  element  in  modern  mis- 
sions, 90,  123 

Faith  societies,  90 

Fanaticism,  dangers  of,  140 

Fellowship  essential  on  the  field, 

135'  MI 
Fetishism  in  Africa,  205 ;  the  Pa- 
cific Islands,  327 
Fiji  Islands,  334 
Fiske,  Fidelia,  Persia,  128 
Fiske,  Pliny,  Palestine,  221 
Foreign  aggressions  in  China,  284 
Foreign   and  home  missions,  re- 
lation of,  367 
Foreigners    resident    in   mission 

lands,  106 
France,    missionary  societies   in, 
84  ;  hostility  to  missions,  Mada- 
gascar,  219;    and  missions  in 
Turkey,    230 ;    in    Pacific    Is- 
lands, 336 
Francke,  Aug.  Herman,  58 
French     Protestant     missions    in 
South    Africa,    2io;    Madagas- 
car, 219 ;  Pacific,  336 


Index 


399 


Friendly  Islands,  329 
Furloughs,  missionary,  1 33 

Gardiner,  Allen,  356 

Garos,  The,  Assam,  264 

Gautama,  12 

Geddie,  John,  335        -_ 

Geographical  discoveries  in  Af- 
rica, 200 ;  the  Pacific,  326 

German  societies  in  Africa,  214; 
New  Guinea,  339 

Germany,  missionai-y  movement 
in,  77 ;  missionary  societies  in, 
81 

Gilbert  Islands,  345 

Gilmour,    James,    of    Mongolia, 

I35»  283 
Goa,  patriarchate  of,  37 
Goths,  conversion  of,  24 
Goucher,  John  F.,  founds  mission 

in  Korea,  314 
Governments,  relation  of  missions 

to,  139 
Grant,  Dr.  Asahel,  in  Persia,  236 
Greek  Church,  The,  222 
Greeks  in  India,  239 
Guam,  Island  of,  346 
Gulick,  Alice  Gordon,  363 
Giitzlaff,  in  China,  264 ;  in  Japan, 

280 

Hall,  Charles  Cuthbert, 
Haskell     Lectures     in    India, 

157.  256 
Halle,  University  of,  58 
Hamlin,   Cyrus,    founds    Robert 

College,  233 
Haskell  Lectures,  The,  in  India, 

I57»  256 
"  Hau-hauism  "  in  New  Zealand, 

338.. 

Hawaiian  Evangelical  Associa- 
tion, 343 

Hawaiian  Islands,  The,  342 ;  re- 
vival in,  343  ;  missionary  so- 
ciety of,  343 

Haweis,  T.  H.,  71 


Haystack  prayer-meeting.  The,  76 
Heiling,  Peter,  in  Abyssinia,  54  ; 
Hepburn,   J.   C,   in  Japan,  299, 

301 
"Hermit   Nation,"  The,    Korea, 

Higher  education,  169 
Hill  Tribes  of  Assam,  263 
Holland,    missionary    movement 

in,  78 
Holy  Spirit  in  missions.  The,  379 
Home  and  foreign   missions,  re- 
lation of,  367 
Hunan  placards,  The,  in  China, 
284 

Idols  destroyed,  Madagascar, 
219';  Pacific  Islands,  330,  342 

Immediate  need,  The,  369  ;  what 
has  been  done,  369  ;  what  re- 
mains to  be  done,  37 1  ;  condi- 
tions of  best  success,  374 ; 
means  or  resources  available, 
377  ;  plan  of  campaign,  380 

Inauguration  of  modern  mission- 
ary movement,  66-78 ;  de- 
nominationalism,  67 ;  Carey, 
69  ;  Baptist  Society,  70 ;  Lon- 
don Missionary  Society,  7 1  ; 
Church  Missionary  Society, 
73 ;  America,  74 ;  American 
Board,  76  ;  Europe,  77 

Independence  Club,  The,  Korea, 

319 

Independent  missionary  societies, 

90 

India,  239-258  ;  Xavier's  mission 
in,  37  ;  extension  of  missions 
in,  240 ;  government  of,  and 
missions,  241;  the  mutiny  in, 
244;  persecution  in,  246; 
Zenana  work  in,  253  ;  National 
Missionary  Society  of,  256 

Indians  of  North  America,  French 
missions  to,  42,352;  Protestant 
missions  to,  353 

Indians  of  South  America,  Prot- 
estant missions  to,  355 


400 


Index 


Individualism  of  early  missions, 

53 
Inuusirial    training,    174;  Africa, 

206  ;   India,  25  I 
Inglis,  John,  Scotland,  80 
International    Missionary    Union, 

120 
Inter-Seminary    Missionary    Al- 
liance, 96 
lona,  monastery  of,  26 
Irish,  conversion  of  the,  25 
Islam,  rise  and  extension  of,  31  ; 
in  Africa,  205,  237  ;  in  Western 
Asia,    228;    the    final    conflict 
with,   237  ;  in    India,   245  ;  iu 
Malaysia,  278 
Italy,  missions  in,  363 
Ilo,  Marquis,  on  missions,  299 

Jacobite  Church,  The,  223 

Janicke,  Father,  77 

Japan,  21^5-313;  influence  of 
native  church,  194;  Roman 
Catliolic  missions  in,  295  ; 
early  acceptance  of  Christian- 
ity, 295  ;  first  persecutions  in, 
296  ;  Dutch  at  Nagasaki,  297  ; 
Commodore  Perry  in,  298; 
modern  missions  in,  298 ; 
mission  problem,  299 ;  influ- 
ences from  the  West,  302 ; 
American  teachers,  302  ;  edicts 
removed,  303 ;  efforts  for 
church  union,  304 ;  exterri- 
toriality in,  304 ;  reaction 
against  foreigners,  304,  309  ; 
denominational  movements  in, 
305  ;  creed  question  in,  307  ; 
native  leaders,  307  ;  alliance 
with  England,  310 ;  revision 
of  treaties,  310 ;  war  with 
China,  310;  war  with  Russia, 
286,  310;  student  convention 
in,  312 

Japanese,  characteristics  of,  300  ; 
attitude  towards  Christianity, 
301 

Japanese  church,  the  first,  303 


Java,  missions  in,  273 

Jesuits,  rise  of,  36  ;  influence  in 

Turkey,    230;    in  India,   239; 

in   China,  275  ;   in  Japan,  2y6 ; 

in  America,  351,  352 
Jews  in  the  Levant,  221,  222 
Judaism,  extension  of,  12 
Judson,  Adoniram,  76,  77,  261 
Juaim  Martyr,  quoted,  19 

Kamkhameha,  King  of  Ha- 
waii, 342 

Karens  of  Burma,  The,  259,  262; 
selfsup}!ort  among  the,  190 

Keith-Falconer  Mission,  Arabia, 
236 

Kettering,    Baptist    ministers   at, 

^  70,  378 

Khasia  Hills,  missions  in  the,  253 
Kols,  The,  Assam,  252,  262 
Korea,  314-325  ;  self-support  in, 
191  ;  geographical  situation  of, 
314  ;  Buddhism  and  Confucian- 
ism in,  315  ;  Roman  Catholic 
missions  in,  315  ;  American 
embassy  to,  316;  persecution 
in,  316;  Protestant  missions 
in,  316;  Political  influences  in, 
318;  Tong  Hak  Rebellion, 
319;  Independence  Club  of, 
319;  efl'ect  of  China-Jnpan 
War,  319;  Russo- Japan  War, 
efitct  of,  320 ;  Russian  influ- 
ence in,  320  ;  mission  methods 
in,  322 ;  results  of  mission 
methods,  323 
Koreans,  characteristics  of,  315  ; 

tr^ist  of  in  missionaries,  321 
Kumi-ai  churches  of  Japan,  The, 

306,  309 
Kusaie,  Caroline  Islands,  345 

IvABUAN,  Borneo,  273 

Languages,  knowledge  of,  essen- 
tial, 152 

Laos,  The,  Siam,  260,  267  ;  self- 
support,  191 


Index 


401 


Las  Casas,  "  Apostle  of  the  West 
Indies,"  40 

Lay  element  in  the  missionary- 
society,  116 

Lay  missionaries,  127 

Laymen's  Missionary  Movement, 
The,  105  . 

Legge,  Dr.,  in  China,  270 

Lepers,  missions  to,  in  India,  255 

Liggins,  J.,  in  Japan,  298 

Literature,  feducational,  176; 
Christian.  (See  Christian  Lit- 
erature) 

Livingstone,  David,  135 ;  re- 
sponse to  Livingstone's  call, 
213 

Local  conditions,  influence  of,  i8l 

"Lone  Star  Mission,"  India,  252 

Loyalty  Islands,  335 

Loyola,  influence  of,  on  missions, 

36 
Luther  League,  The,  104 

Lull,  Raymond,  first   missionary 

to  Mohammedans,  32 

Macao,  277 

Mackay,  Alexander,  of  Uganda, 
127 

Madagascar,  missions  in,  217 

Malaysia,  268,  271 

Malta,  first  missionaries  to,  221 

Manchu  rule  in  China,  278 

Manchuria,  283 

Mandarin  system  in  China,  278 

Maoris,  The,  of  New  Zealcud, 
missions  to,  336 

Maritime  discoveries,  35,  326 

Maronites,  The,  in  Syria,  223 

Marquesas  Islands,  The,  341 

Marsden,  Samuel,  starts  mission 
to  Maoris,  336 

Marshall  Islands,  345 

Martin,  W.  A.  P.,  282 ;  "  Evi- 
dences of  Christianity,"  290, 
302 

Martyn,  Henry,  74 ;  interest  in 
Moslems  and  Armenians,  221 

Massacres   in   Madagascar,  218; 


in  Turkey,  225,  231 ;  in  China, 
283;  in  Japan,  297;  in  Korea, 
316 
M  e  d  i  ae  v  a  1     missions,     2 1-34  ; 
Eastern  Church,  21;   Western 
Church,    23;    Ulfilas,    24;    St. 
Patrick,     25;     Columba,     26; 
Columbanus,  27;   Boniface,  27; 
Cyril  and  Methodius,  29  ;   Nes- 
torians,   30;    Islam,   31;    Ray- 
mond Lull,  32 
Medical      missions,      87,      161 ; 
Africa,  206;  India,  255  ;  Siam, 
266;  China,  287;  Japan,  302; 
Korea,  317 
Meiji   Gakuin,    Presbyterian  col- 
lege, Japan,  310 
Melanesian  Groups,  329 
Melanesian  Mission,  The,  338 
Membership  of  societies,  112 
Methodius  and  Cyril,  missionaries 

to  Slavs,  29 
Methods.     (See     Evangelism, 

Education,  Native  Church) 
Methods     of     missions,     Roman 
Catholic  missions,  47  ;  conflict- 
ing, on  the  field,  137;  Africa, 
206;      Western      Asia,      233; 
India,      249;      Burma,      262; 
Siam,  266 ;  China,  287  ;  Japan, 
302;    Korea,    322;  Pacific    Is- 
lands, 333  ;  South  America,  360 
Micronesia,  329,  344 
Mills,  Samuel  J.,  76 
Minahassa,  272,  274 
Mission,  The,  and  the  missionary, 

125-142 
Mission,  The,    135  ;  the   mission 
station,   136;  conflicting  meth- 
ods, 137;  comity,  138;  organic 
union,    139;  government   rela- 
tions,    139;    fellowship,     141 ; 
the  mission  meeting,  142 
Mission  colleges.    (See  Colleges) 
Mission  methods.     (See  Methods) 
Missionaries,  Roman  Catholic,  48 
Missionary,  The,  1 25-142 ;    edu- 
cated,   1 25  ;    women    mission- 


402 


Index 


aries,    128;    lay    missionaries, 
127;    unmarried    missionaries, 
129;  qualifications  of,  129;  sup- 
port of,  130;  conditions  of  life, 
132;    furloughs,    133;    adapta- 
bility   of,     134;    optimism  of, 
147;  preparation  of,  153;  rela- 
tion to  the  native  church,  184 
Missionary  conference,  first,  118 
Missionary  fundamentals,  152 
Missionary  leaders  at  home,  123 
Missionary  literature,  107 
Missionary    policy,   development 

of,  no 
Missionary  service,  length  of,  1 33 
Missionary  ships,  94 
Missionary  Society,  The,  108- 
124;  early  work  unorganized, 
108 ;  commencement  of  present 
system,  109 ;  increased  de- 
mands, 1 10 ;  development,  1 10  ; 
the  board,  in  ;  denominational 
types,  113,  116;  administra- 
tion, 114;  lay  element,  116; 
general  conferences,  117;  co- 
operation, 119;  annual  confer- 
ences, 119;  women's  work, 
121;  administrative  expendi- 
ture, 121  ;  complex  duties,  122; 
honoured  workers,  123;  faith 
element,  123 
Missions,  organization  of,  135  ; 
science  of,  143 ;  motive  of, 
144;  object  of,  146;  wide  rela- 
tions of,  146;  influence  in  par- 
tition of  Africa,  201 
Modern  missionary  movement, 
inauguration  of,  66-78.  (Sec 
Inauguration) 
Modern  Missionary  Movement, 
Development  of,  79-92 ;  de- 
velopment by  denominations, 
79;  England,  80;  America, 
81;  Germany,  81 ;  Scandi- 
navia, 83 ;  France,  84 ;  co- 
lonial societies,  85  ;  collateral 
and  aid  societies,  86;  Bible 
and  Tract  societies,  86;  medi- 


cal missions,  87 ;  women's  so- 
cieties, 87 ;  independent  and 
special  societies,  89  ;  faith  ele- 
ment, 90 

Mohammedans,  first  mission  to, 
32.     (See  also  Islam) 

Moluccas,  The,  274 

Monasticism,  growth  and  effect 
of,  23 

Monte  Corvino,  John  de,  275 

Moody,  D.  L,,  96 

Moravia  and  Bohemia,  converted, 

Moravian  missions,  61 
Mortiing  Star,  The,  345 
Morrison,  Robert,  276 
Morrison  centenary.  The,  292 
Moslem     countries     of    Western 

Asia,  220 
Moslem     governments,     attitude 

towards  Christianity,  227 
Moslems  in  Western  Asia,  222 
Moslems,     interest     of     Henry 

Martyn  in,  221 
Motive  of  missions,  16,  144 
Miiller,  George,  influence  of,  91 
Murdock,  John,  Madras,  254 
Music,  value  of,  in  missions,  161 
Mutiny,  The  Indian,  244 

Native  Christian  citizen,  The, 
177 

Native  church.  The,  178-195  ;  a 
natural  development,  179;  in 
apostolic  and  mediaeval  periods, 
179;  influence  of  local  condi- 
tions, i8l  ;  organization  of, 
182;  denominationalism  in, 
182 ;  relation  to  home  churches, 
183;  relation  to  the  missionary, 
1S4;  native  leaders,  188;  self- 
support  of,  187  ;  native  helpers, 
188;  church  building,  189; 
relation  to  the  mission,  I91  ; 
doctrinal  development,  192; 
social  and  national  power,  193  ; 
Africa,  211;  Western  Asia, 
235  ;  India,  257  ;  Burma,  263; 


Index 


403 


Laos,  268  ;  China,  290  ;  Japan, 
307 ;  Korea,  323 ;  Pacific  Is- 
lands, 347  ;  problems  of,  374 

Native  leaders,  training  of,  172 

Neesima,  Joseph,  303,  305,  309 

Negroes  of  Central  and  South 
America,  missions  to,  357 

Nestorian  Church,  The,  223  ;  in 
India,   239;  in  China,  275 

Nestorian  missionaries,  30 ;  fail- 
ure of,  151 

Nevius,  John  L.,  in  Korea,  318 

New  England  Company,  56 

New  Guinea,  339 

New  Hebrides,  334 

New  Zealand,  336 

North  Africa,  problem  of,  203; 
missions  in,  216 

Norway,  missionary  societies  in, 
84 

Nusairiyeh  in  Syria,  The,  225 

Object  of  missions,  146 
Obokaia,  of  Hawaii,  342 
Open    doors,    369 ;    Asia,    369 ; 

Africa,    370;    South   America, 

370;  the  Pacific,  370 
Opium  War,  The,  280 
Ordained  missionaries,  proportion 

of,  129 
Organic  union  of  churches  on  the 

field,  139 
Organization,  lack  of  in  Apostolic 

Church,   14 ;   growth  of,   109 ; 

of  native  church,  182 
Orphanages  in  China,  288 
Oriental  Churches.    (See  Eastern 

Churches) 

Pacific  Islands,  The,  326-348 ; 
discoveries,  326;  characteris- 
tics of,  327  ;  treatment  of  na- 
tives by  white  men,  327 ; 
Roman  Catholic  missions,  328  ; 
group  divisions,  328 ;  Protes- 
tant missions,  329 ;  Friendly 
Islands,  329 ;  Tahiti,  330 ; 
John    Williams,   331 ;    Society 


Islands,  332;  from  island  to 
island,  333 ;  New  Hebrides, 
334 ;  Samoa,  334 ;  Loyally  Is- 
lands, 335 ;  the  Maoris,  336  ; 
Melanesian  mission,  338  ;  New 
Guinea,  339 ;  the  Marquesas, 
341;  the  Hawaiian  Islands, 
342 ;  Micronesia,  344 ;  the 
Philippines,"  346;  results,  347 

Pantaenus,  School  of,  18 

Papuan  tribes,  New  Guinea,  339 

Paraguay,  Jesuits  in,  41,  351 

Parker,  Dr.  Peter,  China,  280, 
287 

Parliament  of  Religions,  126 

Parsons,  Levi,  Palestine,  221 

"  Passion  for  Souls,"  146 

Paton,  John  G.,  147,  335 

Patrick,  St.,  25 

Patteson,  Bishop,  339 

Periodical   literature   in  Turkey, 

234 
Periods  of  missions,  12 

Perry,  Commodore,  in  Japan,  298 
Persecution     in    Western     Asia, 
226 ;  India,  246 ;  China,  283  ; 
Japan,      297;      Korea,      316; 
Roman  Catholic  lands,  361 
Persia,  early  church  in,  30 ;  po- 
litical situation  in,  228  ;  exten- 
sion of  missions  in,  236 
Personal   responsibility,  key-note 
of  missionary  activity,  52;  de- 
velopment of,  66 
Peshito  version,  Syriac,  18 
Philippine  Islands,  The,  346 
Pietists,  The,  57 
Plan,  need  of  a,  380 
Pliitschau,  India,  58 
Plymouth  Brethren,  72,  115,  375 
Political  relations  of  Roman  Cath- 
olic missions,  49 
Polygamy,  problem  of,  247 
Polynesian  groups,  328 
Pomare,  King,  Tahiti,  330 
Portuguese  in  America,  350 
Premillennial    coming  of  Christ, 
influence  of  doctrine  of,  148 


404 


Index 


Problems  of  missions,  three,  149  ; 
in  Africa,  203 ;  Western  Asia, 
222 ;  India,  245  ;  China,  277  ; 
Japan,  299 

Propaganda,  The,  43 

Propagation  of  the  Faith,  Society 

of,  45 

Protestant  colonies,  53 

Protestant  community  in  Turkey, 
230 

Protestant  lands,  Protestant  mis- 
sions in,  366 

Pundita  Ramabai,  253 

Pythagoras,  12 

Qualifications  of  the  mission- 
ary, 129 
Quiet  hour,  The,  380 

R  ADAM  A  I,  Madagascar,  218 

Rangoon,  261 

Rarotonga,  :^^^ 

Reform  party  in  Korea,  317 

Reformation  period  and  missions, 

Reformers,  The,  and  missions,  51 
Religions  of  Africa,  205  ;  Western 

Asia,  222;  Southeastern  Asia, 

259;    religions  of   India,  245; 

China,      277 ;      Japan,      299 ; 

Korea,    315;    Pacific    Islands, 

327 
Religious  Tract  Society,  86 

Resources  available,  377 

Results,  summary  of,  369 ;  open 
doors,  369  ;  Christian  commu- 
nities, 370  ;  education,  370  ; 
philanthropy,  370  ;  native 
church,  371 ;  open  Bible,  371 

"  Rice-Christians,"  291 

Richard,  Timothy,  China,  290 

Riggs,  Elias,  233 

Robert  College,  founded,  231,  234 

Roman  Catholic  missions,  35-50; 
maritime  discoveries,  35 ;  the 
Jesuits,  36  ;  Francis  Xavier,  37  ; 
in  Asia,  39 ;  in  Africa,  39  ;  in 
America,  40,  350;  and  Eastern 


Churches, 42;  Tlie  Propacanda, 
43 ;  •'  Propagation  of  the  i-  iiiih," 
45  ;  methods,  47  ;  missionaries, 
48;  political  relations,  49; 
failure  of,  151;  in  Syria,  223; 
in  India,  245  ;  in  China,  287  ; 
in  Japan,  295;  in  Korea,  313  ■ 
the  Pacific,  328 

Roman  Catholics,  Protestant  mis- 
sions to,  357 

Ross,  John,  in  Korea,  316 

Russia,  conversion  of,  30;  Rus- 
sian Bible  Society,  221 ;  rela- 
tion to  missions,  230;  scientist, 
at  Harput,  231 ;  mission  to  the 
Nestorians,  236;  war  with 
Japan,  310;  intrigues  in  Korea, 
320 ;  Bible  distribution  in,  363  ; 
missionary  work  in,  365 

Russo-Japanese  War,  Y.  M.  C. 
A.  in,  10 1 

St.    Chrischona,   Pilgrim    mis- 
sion, 202 
Salvation,  broad  scope  of,  146 
Salvation   ^0,   rather   than  froni^ 

147 
Samoa,  334 

Santa  Cruz  Islands,  338,  339 

Saxons,  conversion  of,  27 

Schauffler,  W\  G.,  233 

School  at  Alexandria,  18 

Schools  evangelistic  agencies,  170, 

174 

Schwartz,  Christian  Frederick,  in 

India,  59,  240 
Science  of  missions,  143 
Scotch  societies,  early,  72 
Self-support,  in    different    fields, 

190.     (See  also  Native  Church) 
Self-supporting  missions,  132 
Selwyn,  Bishop,  337 
Severinus,  27 
Shamanism  in  Korea,  315 
Shanghai,  centenary  at,  292 
Shintoism,  296,  299 
Siam,  missions  in,  264;  King  of, 

265 


Index 


40^ 


Singanfu,  Nestorian  tablet  of,  31 
Singapore,  264,  270 
Smith,  Ai-lhur  H.,  291 
Smith,  Eli,  and  li.  G.  O.  Dwight, 
travels  of,  in  Turkey,  etc.,  222 
Smyrna,  first  missionaries  to,  221 
Society  Islands,  332 
Solomon  Islands,  338 
South  Africa,  missions  in,  85, 204, 

209 
South  America,  missions  in,  321, 

360 
Southeastern  Asia,  259-274;  po- 
litical conditions,  259 ;  religions 
in,  260  ;  Burma,  261 ;   Karens, 
•    262;    Hill   tribes,    263 ;  Siam, 
264;   relation   to  government, 
265  ;  the  Laos,  267  ;  Malaysia, 
268;    Peninsula,    270;   Archi- 
pelago, 271  ;  Java,  272 
South  Seas,  first  mission  to,  71 
Spain  in  the  Caroline  Islands,  346 
Spain,  missions  in,  363 
Station,  the  mission,  136 
Straits  Settlements,  270 
Student    and     Young     People's 
.    Movements,  93-107  ;  plans  for 
interesiing  children,  94  ;  Young 
Men's     Christian    Association, 
94 ;   student    conferences,   96 ; 
Student  Volunteer    Movement, 
96  ;  results,  98 ;  foreign  depart- 
ment, Y.  M.  C.  A.,  99  ;  World's 
Student  Federation,  loi ;  Young 
People's  Movement,  103 ;  Chris- 
tian Endeavour  Society,    104 ; 
Epworth  League,  104  ;  Baptist 
Young    People's   Union,    104; 
Luther     League,     104;     Lay- 
men's   Movement,     105 ;    mis- 
sionary literature,  107 
Student  movement,  povi^er  of,  380 
Stundists  of  Russia,  The,  366 
Sudan,  The,  204 
Sumatra,  Bataks  of,  272 
Sweden,  missionary  societies  in. 

Sweepers,  mission  to  the,  252 


Syrian   Protestant   College,   231, 

234 
Syrians,  The,  223 

Tabu,  desti-uction  of,  Hawaii,  342 
Tahiti,  330  ;  French  in,  336 
'Tahitian  Missionary  Society,  331 

Taiping  Rebellion,  The,  279 
Tamil  Mission,  Danish,  58 

Tartars,  early  missions  to,  30 

Taylor,  Bishop  William,  132 

Taylor,  J.  Hudson,  71,  282 

Teacher,  development  of  the,  169 

Telugus,  "  Lone    Star   Mission," 
252 

Terra  Catholica  and  Terra  Mis- 
sionisi  44 

Tertullian,  quoted,  19 

Theological  controversies,   effect 
on  missions,  22 

Thurston,  Asa,  342 

Tientsin  Massacre,  283 

Tokyo,  student  convention  in,  312 

Toleration,  first  edict  of,  21 ;  edict 
of,  in  China,  281 

Tong  Hak  Rebellion,  Korea,  319 

Tract  Societies,  86 

Tranquebar,  seat  of  Tamil  Mis- 
sion, 58 

Travelling  or  touring,  159 

Treaty  ports  opened  in  China,  280 

Treaties  with  Japan,  301 

Turkey,  political  situation  in,  228 

Turkish    Bible,    first   version   of, 
221  ;  new  version  of,  233 

Turkish  Empire,  extent  of,  220 

Uganda,  213 
Ulfilas,  24 

Underwood,  H.  G.,  322 
Unfinished  task.  The,  371 ;  Africa, 

372;  India,  372;  China,  372; 

other    countries,    372;    native 

church,   373;   obstacles   to   be 

overcome,  373 
United  Church  of  Christ,  Japan, 

306 


4o6 


Index 


"  United,"  Greek,  Jacobite,  Ar- 
menian churches,  43 

United  States,  missionary  socie- 
ties in,  81 

Universities  Mission,  86 

Ursinus,  reply  to  Von  Welz,  57 

Van  der  Kemp,  78 
Van  Dyck,  C.  V.  A.,  233 
Venn,  John  and  Henry,  73 
Verbeck,   G.   F.,  in    Japan,   299, 

301 
Von    Welz,    appeal    of,    56;    in 

Guiana,  355 

Wahabis,  revolt  of,  220 

W  esleys,  The,  63 

West   Africa,    missions   in,    21 1; 

problem  of,  203 
West  Indies,  missionary  societies 

in,  85 
Western    Church,   early   activity 

of,  23 
'^^'hite  men  in  the  Pacific,  327 
Williams,  John,  331 
"Williams,  S.  Wells,  127,  279,  281, 

298 
Willibrord,  27 


Woman  missionary,  first,  S8 
Woman's      Missionary      Society, 

tirst,  89 
Women,    appeal    for,  by    David 

Abeel,  88 
Women  missionaries,  128 
Women,  reaching  the,  160 
Women's  societies,  87,  121 
World's  Student  Federation,  lOl ; 

convention  in  Japan,  313 
Worcester,  Samuel,  75 

Xavier,  Fran'CIS,  37,  278,  295  ; 
successors  of,  38 

Young  Men's  Christian  Asso 
CIATION,  94 ;  foreign  depart- 
ment, 99 

Young  People's  Movements,  93- 
107.  (See  also  Student  Move- 
ments) 

Zechariah,  the  prophet,  12 
Zenana  work,  253 
Ziegenbalg  in  India,  58,  240 
Zinzendorf,  Count,  60 
Zoroaster,  12 
Zwemer,  Peter,  Arabia,  236 


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